Journal of the American Ceramic Society, Vol.99, No.12, 4093-4099, 2016
Effects of Nd Content on Structure and Chemical Durability of Zirconolite-Barium Borosilicate Glass-Ceramics
The effects of Nd2O3 content (0-12 wt %) on crystalline phases, microstructure, and chemical durability of barium borosilicate glass-ceramics belonging to SiO2-B2O3-Na2O-BaO-CaO-TiO2-ZrO2-Nd2O3 system were studied. The results show that the glass-ceramics with 2-6 wt% of Nd2O3 possess mainly zirconolite and titanite phases along with a small amount baddeleyite phase in the bulk. Calcium titanate appears when the Nd2O3 content increases to 8 wt%, and the amount of quadrate calcium titanate crystals increases with further increasing content of Nd2O3. For the glass-ceramics with 6 wt% Nd2O3 (Nd-6), Nd elements homogeneously distribute in zirconolite, titanite, and residual glass phases. There is a strong enrichment of Nd in calcium titanate crystals for the sample with 10 wt% Nd2O3. The viscosity of Nd-6 glass is about 49 dPa.s at 1150 degrees C. Moreover, Nd-6 glass-ceramics show the lower normalized leaching rates of B (LRB), Ca (LRCa), and Nd (LRNd) when compared to that of the sample with 8 wt% Nd2O3. After 42 days, LRB, LRCa, and LRNd of the Nd-6 glass-ceramics are about 6.8 x 10(-3), 1.6 x 10(-3), and 4.4 x 10(-6) g.m(-2).d(-1), respectively.