Effect of Li2O on Non-Isothermal Crystallization of Cuspidine in CaO–SiO2–CaF2 Glasses

Abstract

This paper presents the effects of Li2O addition on the non-isothermal melt crystallization of Cuspidine in CaO-SiO2-CaF2 glass. The addition of Li2O retarded crystallization at all cooling rates and converted the mode of nucleation from instantaneous to progressive. Two types of kinetic analysis indicated anti-Arrhenius behavior in the samples, which means that overall crystallization was governed by nucleation. Furthermore, the change in effective activation energy indicated that the addition of Li2O impeded the initial stage of crystal formation. Therefore, the addition of Li2O retarded the crystallization of CaO-SiO2-CaF2 melt as a result of suppression of nucleation. These results increase our understanding of melt crystallization kinetics of glass for use as mold flux in continuous casting steel production.