Nanophase Glass‐Ceramics

TLDR

Glass‑ceramics with sub‑100‑nm uniformly dispersed crystals are poised to enable advanced transmission, display, and storage technologies, offering specialized properties for both new and existing applications. This study investigates transparent nanocrystalline glass‑ceramics and tough, high‑modulus variants with precisely engineered surfaces. Transparent glass‑ceramics are produced from aluminosilicate glasses that nucleate crystals efficiently and grow slowly, yielding β‑quartz solid solutions with low thermal expansion, spinel with high hardness and modulus, and mullite exhibiting chromium‑luminescence.

Abstract

Future applications for glass‐ceramics are likely to capitalize on designed‐in, highly specialized properties for the transmission, display, and storage of information. Glass‐ceramics with microstructures comprised of uniformly dispersed crystals <100 nm in size offer promise for many potential new applications as well as provide unique attributes for many current products. This paper focuses on two types of nanocrystalline glass‐ceramics: transparent glass‐ceramics and tough, high‐modulus glass‐ceramics with precisely engineered surfaces. Transparent glass‐ceramics are formed from certain aluminosilicate glasses capable of efficient crystal nucleation and slow growth. The key crystalline phases include β‐quartz solid solutions, characterized by low‐thermal‐expansion behavior; spinel, with high hardness and elastic modulus; and mullite, which shows unique chromium‐luminescence behavior.