Glass transition and crystallization kinetics of CsLiB6O10 glasses by differential scanning calorimetry

Transparent glasses of CsLiB6O10 (CLBO) were fabricated via the conventional melt-quenching technique. The amorphous and the glassy characteristics of the as-quenched samples were, respectively, established by X-ray powder diffraction (XRD) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). To evaluate the activation energies for the glass transition and crystallization of these glasses, DSC runs were made at different heating rates. The value of the Avrami exponent, n, was found to be 3.5±0.3, suggesting a mixed transformation mechanism (two- and three-dimensional crystal growth). The average values of the activation energies associated with the glass transition and crystallization of CLBO glasses were 670±4 and 341±7 kJ/mol, respectively. Values of the kinetics parameters obtained using isothermal and non-isothermal techniques were in excellent agreement.