Injection moulding of LiO2-ZrO2-SiO2-Al2O3 (LZSA) glass ceramics

The behaviour during sintering of glass ceramics belonging to the LZSA (LiO 2 -ZrO 2 -SiO 2 -Al 2 O 3 ) system obtained by powder injection moulding was studied. Chemical and particle size analysis, rheological and thermal shrinkage measurements, differential thermal analysis (DTA), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and x-ray diffraction (XRD) were used. The rheological measurements showed that an injectable system could be produced with a glass powder volume of 55%. Sintering, in this system, started at about 570°C and finished at about 700°C. The sintered material reached around 97% theoretical density after crystallisation. The main crystalline phases formed were β-spodumene (Li 2 O.Al 2 O 3 .4-10SiO 2 ), zirconium silicate (ZrSiO 4 ) and lithium metasilicate (Li 2 SiO 3 ). Powder injection moulding is a useful process for the production of glass ceramic materials.