Crystallization and microstructure of Eu3+-doped lithium aluminophosphate glass

A transparent Eu3+-doped lithium aluminophosphate glass was prepared by melt-quenching technique. The thermal behavior of the glass was investigated by differential thermal analysis (DTA), the structure was studied by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and the morphology was observed by optical polarization microscopy and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The activation energy of glass transition and the activation energy of crystallization and Avrami exponent have been evaluated under non-isothermal conditions from the data obtained by DTA at different heating rates. DTA curves exhibited an endothermic peak associated with the glass transition and two exothermic peaks. The mean value calculated for the activation energy of glass transition was 545kJmol−1. The activation energy of crystallization was ~400kJmol−1 for the first exothermic peak and ~170kJmol−1 for the second peak. The Avrami exponent was ~1 for both peaks indicating surface crystallization. XRD results showed that the main crystalline phase, aluminum metaphosphate, Al(PO3)3, and aluminum phosphate, AlPO4, were formed together with lithium barium phosphate, Li3Ba(PO3)7, during the first exothermic peak and together with barium pyrophosphate, Ba2P2O7, during the second peak. Morphological study of heat-treated glass samples revealed microstructural features that confirmed a surface crystallization process. •Crystallization kinetics of Eu3+-doped lithium aluminophosphate glass was investigated.•Kinetic parameters were determined from non-isothermal DTA data by different methods.•Al(PO3)3 and AlPO4 were the major phases formed during the crystallization process.•Crystallization started at the surface of glass with radial growth of crystal aggregates.