Nepheline (Na 6 K 2 Al 8 Si 8 O 32 ) is a rock-forming tectosilicate mineral which is by far the most abundant of the feldspathoids. The crystallization in nepheline-based glass-ceramics proceeds through several polymorphic transformationsmainly orthorhombic, hexagonal, cubicdepending on their thermochemistry. However, the fundamental science governing these transformations is poorly understood. In this article, an attempt has been made to elucidate the structural drivers controlling these polymorphic transformations in nepheline-based glass-ceramics. Accordingly, two different sets of glasses (meta-aluminous and per-alkaline) have been designed in the system Na 2 O-CaO-Al 2 O 3 -SiO 2 in the crystallization field of nepheline and synthesized by the melt-quench technique. The detailed structural analysis of glasses has been performed by 29 Si, 27 Al, and 23 Na magic-angle spinningnuclear magnetic resonance (MAS NMR), and multiple-quantum MAS NMR spectroscopy, while the crystalline phase transformations in these glasses have been studied under isothermal and non-isothermal conditions using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and MQMAS NMR. Results indicate that the sequence of polymorphic phase transformations in these glass-ceramics is dictated by the compositional chemistry of the parent glasses and the local environments of different species in the glass structure; for example, the sodium environment in glasses became highly ordered with decreasing Na 2 O/CaO ratio, thus favoring the formation of hexagonal nepheline, while the cubic polymorph was the stable phase in SiO 2 -poor glass-ceramics with (Na 2 O+CaO)/Al 2 O 3 > 1. The structural origins of these crystalline phase transformations have been discussed in the paper.

Addition of B2O3 in aluminosilicate glasses leads to structural changes that cause increase in liquidus viscosity and thereby suppresses crystallization.

This study focuses on understanding the relationship between iron redox, composition, and heat‐treatment atmosphere in nepheline‐based model high‐level nuclear waste glasses. Glasses in the Na2O–Al2O3–B2O3–Fe2O3–SiO2 system with varying Al2O3/Fe2O3 and Na2O/Fe2O3 ratios have been synthesized by melt‐quench technique and studied for their crystallization behavior in different heating atmospheres—air, inert (N2), and reducing (96%N2–4%H2). The compositional dependence of iron redox chemistry in glasses and the impact of heating environment and crystallization on iron coordination in glass‐ceramics have been investigated by Mössbauer spectroscopy and vibrating sample magnetometry. While iron coordination in glasses and glass‐ceramics changed as a function of glass chemistry, the heating atmosphere during crystallization exhibited minimal effect on iron redox. The change in heating atmosphere did not affect the phase assemblage but did affect the microstructural evolution. While glass‐ceramics produced as a result of heat treatment in air and N2 atmospheres developed a golden/brown colored iron‐rich layer on their surface, those produced in a reducing atmosphere did not exhibit any such phenomenon. Furthermore, while this iron‐rich layer was observed in glass‐ceramics with varying Al2O3/Fe2O3 ratio, it was absent from glass‐ceramics with varying Na2O/Fe2O3 ratio. An explanation of these results has been provided on the basis of kinetics of diffusion of oxygen and network modifiers in the glasses under different thermodynamic conditions. The plausible implications of the formation of iron‐rich layer on the surface of glass‐ceramics on the chemical durability of high‐level nuclear waste glasses have been discussed.

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