Crystallization kinetics of Li2O–PbO–V2O5 glasses

Lead vanadate glasses of the system 5Li2O−(45−x) PbO−(50+x) V2O5, with x=0, 5, 10, and 15 mol% have been prepared and studied by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). The crystallization kinetics of the glasses were investigated under non-isothermal conditions applying the formal theory of transformations for heterogeneous nucleation to the experimental data obtained by DSC using continuous-heating techniques. In addition, from dependence of the glass-transition temperature (Tg) on the heating rate, the activation energy for the glass transition was derived. Similarly the activation energy of the crystallization process was determined and the crystallization mechanism was characterized. The results reveal the increase of the activation energy for glass transition which was attributed to the increase in the rigidity, the cross-link density and the packing density of these glasses. The phases into which the glass crystallizes have been identified by X-ray diffraction. Diffractograms of the transformed material indicate the presence of microcrystallites of Li0.30V2O5, Li0.67O5V2, LiV6O15, Li4O4Pb, and O7Pb2V2 in a remaining amorphous matrix.