A Novel Composition Of 0.25Li2O.

2SiO2-
0.75BaO.2SiO2 Glass-ceramics For Dental
Restorations
Burcu Ertuğ+1, Burcu Nilgün Çetiner*2, Hasan Gökçe#3, Z. Engin Erkmen*4, M. Lütfi Öveçoğlu#5
+
Gedik University, Department Of Metallurgical and Materials Engineering, 34876 Yakacık-Kartal, Istanbul,Turkey.
1
burcuertug@gmail.com
#
Istanbul Technical University, Department Of Metallurgical and Materials Engineering, 34469 Maslak, Istanbul, Turkey.
3
gokceh@itu.edu.tr
5
ovecoglu@itu.edu.tr
*
Marmara University, Department of Metallurgical and Materials Engineering, 34722 Göztepe, Istanbul, Turkey.
2
nilgun.cetiner@marmara.edu.tr
4
eerkmen@marmara.edu.tr

ABSTRACT
Crystal growth in glasses
has been an area of extensive
experimental study. Crystal
growth rates in
stoichiometric systems are
described in terms of 2D
nucleated growth [1]. Glass-
ceramics are fine-grained
polycrystalline materials
formed when glasses of
suitable compositions are
heat treated and thus undergo
controlled crystallisation to
the lower energy, crystalline
state. Only specific glass
compositions are suitable
precursors for glass-
ceramics; some glasses are
too stable and difficult to
crystallise, whereas others
crystallise too readily in an
uncontrollable manner
resulting in undesirable
microstructures. The heat
treatment is critical to the
attainment of an acceptable
and reproducible product [2].
The resulting crystalline
(fully or partially) material
exhibits better resistance to
wear, to oxidation and to
chemical degradation, and
have increased hardness and
dimensional stability, which
is important for engineering
applications [3].
Typically, the
transformation takes place by
the process of nucleation and
crystallite growth where the
maximum nucleation rate
occurs at temperature Tn,
which is generally lower than
the onset temperature, Tc for
the crystal growth process.
For lithium-disilicate, Tn and
Tc are well separated, which
offers the possibility to
obtain a well-defined glass-
ceramic by a two-step heat
treatment [4]. The controlled
crystallization of bulk glass
articles and sintering
crystallization of glass
powder compact are two
usual routes for producing
glass-ceramics. However, no
matter which method is
applied, all the crystalline
phases are precipitated from
the parent glass. The
difference between the two
routes is their crystallization
mechanism: the former by
volume crystallization and
the latter by surface
crystallization [5].
Despite the huge efforts
on the application of metallic
materials in dentistry, since
1990s, efforts to develop
biomaterials for restorative
dentistry have been
concentrated on producing
metal-free systems. An
important milestone in this
respect was reached in the
development of glass–
ceramics containing lithium
disilicate [6]. For practical
applications, lithium
disilicate glass-ceramics have
been widely used in the areas
of ceramic-metal sealing and
dental restoration [7]. For the
controlled crystallization of
Li2O–SiO2, the addition of
trace amount of P2O5 is
required to transform the
Li2O–SiO2 system from
surface crystallization to bulk
crystallization [8].
In the present study, the
crystallization process of
0.25Li2O.2SiO2-
0.75BaO.2SiO2 glasses was
investigated. The identified
phases by XRD were lithium
disilicate (Li2O.2SiO2) and
barium disilicate
(BaO.2SiO2) as the major
phases and SiO2 was the
minor phase. The
incorporation of the
nucleating agent, P2O5 did
not result in volume
crystallization, a surface
crystallization was dominant.
DTA curve of the
composition studied
exhibited a small
endothermic peak (glass
transition) and a broad
exothermic peak
(crystallization of the dual
phase). The optimum
nucleation temperature was
determined to be 540°C.
(a)
(b)
Figure 1 Optical images of
samples heat treated at the
optimum nucleation
temperature, (a) 540°C/2h.
and (b) 540°C/3h.
After the crystallization
heat treatment, SEM and
XRD techniques were used to
characterize 0.25Li2O.2SiO2-
0.75BaO.2SiO2 glass-
ceramic.
Keywords: Lithium
disilicate, sanbornite,
crystallization, glass-ceramic.
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