A multi technique study of a new lithium disilicate glass-ceramic spray-coated on ZrO 2 2 2 substrate for dental restoration https://doi.org/10.1515/bglass-2017-0004 Received May 05, 2017 revised Jul 07, 2017; accepted Aug 09, 2017 Abstract: An alkali niobate-silicate veneer ceramic for ZrO 2 -based dental restoration was developed and characterized for its physical properties and structure. The properties were adjusted for dental applications. The new lithium disilicate glass-ceramic VBK (sold as cerafusion or LiSi) can easily be applied by spray coating to any individually formed ZrO 2 -matrix and needs only one final tempering treatment. The surface of the glass-ceramic is very smooth. The color of the already translucent glass-ceramic can be adjusted to that of individual natural teeth. The structure of the glass-ceramic was studied by XRD and Raman spectroscopy as a function of heat-treatment and of spatial variations within the material and at its interfaces. ToF SIMS, SEM and thermal analysis techniques were applied to investigate the crystallization behavior and surface-interface reactions. XRD and Raman spectroscopy identified different crystalline phases in the amorphous glass matrix including Li 2 Si 2 O 5 , Li 2 SiO 3 , NaxLi (1−x) NbO 3 and Na 3 NbO 4 . The Raman spectrum of the amorphous matrix is dominated by the vibrational activity of the highly polarizable niobate units with a prominent feature at 865 cm −1 , assigned to Nb-O stretching in NbO 6 octahedra, which have non-bridging oxygen atoms and are connected to the silicate matrix rather than to other niobate polyhedra.