Balancing hardness and transparency in high-alumina glass-ceramics by B2O3 addition

BB Ren and YX Liu and JN Yu and WK Huang and ZC Gong and H Jiang and T Wang and N Wang and X Huang and HX Hao, CERAMICS INTERNATIONAL, 51, 57874-57885 (2025).

DOI: 10.1016/j.ceramint.2025.10.005

The exploration of extreme deep-sea environments demands advanced materials capable of withstanding ultrahigh pressures while maintaining optical transparency and mechanical robustness. However, existing transparent materials for deep-sea probe windows face critical limitations. Here, a B2O3-added high-alumina glass-ceramic was developed with an excellent Vickers hardness (8.4 GPa) and optical clarity (nearly 90 % transmittance), achieving a better balance of hardness and transmittance. Through experiments and simulations, it was found that BO3 lamellar and BO4 shelf structures depolymerized the glass network, thereby improving the uniformity of the glass-ceramic composition and lowering the crystallization energy barrier. Optimized B2O3 addition (5.01 mol% B2O3) promoted the controlled crystallization of the Zn/MgAl2O4 and ZrO2 phases, achieving 60.30 % crystallinity. The addition of B2O3 demonstrated the tunability of the hardness and transmittance of high-alumina glass-ceramics, endowing this material with great application potential.

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