Microstructure Study of Phase Transformation of Quartz in Potassium Silicate Glass at 900 °C and 1000 °C

Abstract

Interfacial reaction between quartz and potassium silicate glass was studied at both 900 °C and 1000 °C. The results showed that no phase transformation was observed for the pure quartz at 900 °C or 1000 °C. Instead, for quartz particles in K2O-SiO2 glass, the transformation from quartz to cristobalite occurred at the quartz/glass interface at first, and then the cristobalite crystals transformed into tridymite. The tridymite formed at the interface between particles and glass became the site of heterogeneous nucleation, which induces plenty of tridymite precipitation in potassium silicate glass. The influential mechanism of firing temperature and size of quartz particles on transformation rate was discussed.