Structure and crystallization of B2O3–Al2O3–SiO2 glasses

B2O3–Al2O3–SiO2 glasses with different B2O3/Al2O3 ratios of 0.4–1.3 were prepared by the melting–quenching method at 1500–1600 °C for 2 h. Fragility index F was used to estimate the glass-forming ability. The infrared (IR) absorption curves and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) curves of the glasses have been investigated for estimating the influence of the B2O3/Al2O3 ratio on glass structure and crystallization of the B2O3–Al2O3–SiO2 glass system. The crystallization kinetics of the glasses were described by activation energy (E) for crystallization and calculated by the Kissinger method. X-ray diffraction (XRD) and SEM analyses were also used to describe the types and morphologies of the crystals precipitated from the B2O3–Al2O3–SiO2 glasses. The results show that with the increase of B2O3/Al2O3 ratio, glass stability improves and the trend of crystallization decreases relatively. However, when the B2O3/Al2O3 ratio reaches 1.3, boron-abnormal phenomenon appears and results in the raising trend of crystallization. Rod-like crystals of Al4B2O9 and Al20B4O36 were observed in the crystallized samples.