Effect of boron oxide on the structure and properties of Li ₂ O‐Al ₂ O ₃ ‐SiO ₂ transparent glass‐ceramics

Abstract Transparent lithium aluminum silicon glass‐ceramics are prepared via heat treatment and the effect of boron oxide (B 2 O 3 ) content on the structure and properties of Li 2 O‐Al 2 O 3 ‐SiO 2 glass‐ceramics is investigated. The X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy results reveal that the parent glass containing B 2 O 3 exhibits a higher concentration of bridging oxygen (BO). With an increase in B 2 O 3 content, the relative amount of BO changes from 76.64% to 79.86% and then to 79.52%. Simultaneously, the second crystallization peak temperature T P2 of the samples increases from 715°C to 720°C and then to 724°C by differential scanning calorimeter analysis. The X‐ray diffractometer and scanning electron microscope results indicate that the addition of B 2 O 3 facilitates grain growth, while an increase in B 2 O 3 substitution for Al 2 O 3 hinders the precipitation of LiAlSi 4 O 10 but promotes quartz formation. The glass containing 2 wt% B 2 O 3 with the heat treatment of 560°C/ 4 h+ 680°C/2 h shows a Vickers Hardness value of approximately 7.75 GPa, and a transmittance at 550 nm reaching ∼85%.