Physical Properties of Quenched Glasses in the Li2O-ZrO2-SiO2 System

The behavior and some physical and thermal properties of a 30Li₂O-70SiO₂ base glass composition with addition of ZrSiO₄ in the as-quenched state was investigated with the aid of X-ray diffraction (XRD), differential thermal analysis (DTA), thermal expansion and microhardness measurements, as well as density measurements. Transparent glasses prepared by the addition of ZrSiO₄ up to 10.30 mol% were obtained. ZrSiO₄ was found to decrease the expansion coefficient of the investigated glasses from 11.0 × 10⁻⁶ to 7.96 × 10⁻⁶°C⁻¹. The glass transition and softening point temperatures of the glasses showed a reverse behavior. On the other hand, both hardness and density increased for successive increases of the ZrSiO₄ amounts, with the highest values of 6.3 GPa and 2.65 g/cm³, respectively.