Effect of the Al2O3/SiO2 mass ratio on the crystallization behavior of CaO-SiO2-MgO-Al2O3 slags using confocal laser scanning microscopy

The crystallization behavior of a CaO-SiO2-MgO-Al2O3 slag system with varying Al2O3/SiO2 mass ratios from 0.03 to 1.10 has been investigated using a confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM). The resulting continuous cooling transformation (CCT) and time-temperature-transformation (TTT) curves showed that the initial crystallization temperature increased and the incubation time for crystallization slightly decreased with increasing Al2O3/SiO2 ratio. The crystal growth rate first increased and then decreased with decreasing isothermal temperature. X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis suggested that Ca2MgSi2O7 or Ca3MgSi2O8 precipitated as the primary phase at lower Al2O3/SiO2 ratios, while the Ca2Al2SiO7 phase was preferred at higher Al2O3/SiO2 ratios. The observed crystalline phases correlated well with the expected thermodynamic predictions from FactSage. In addition, structural analysis using 27Al magic angle spinning nuclear magnetic resonance (27Al MAS-NMR) microscopy of the as-quenched slags indicated the presence of a higher ratio of tetrahedral [AlO4]5-structural units with increasing Al2O3/SiO2 ratio, which enhanced the polymerization of tetrahedral [AlO4]5- and [SiO4]4- structural units to form Ca2Al2SiO7.