Microstructure and ion‐exchange properties of transparent glass–ceramics containing Mg ₂ SiO ₄ crystals

Abstract Transparent glass–ceramics (GCs) with excellent mechanical properties is a growing demand in the field of optoelectronic devices. In this work, Mg ₂ SiO ₄ nanocrystals embedded transparent GCs were prepared using the melt‐quenching method. The effects of the TiO ₂ content on the structural and crystallization properties of glass were examined, and the influence of Mg ₂ SiO ₄ crystallization on the depth of layer (DOL) for K–Na ion‐exchange was also investigated. The introduction of TiO ₂ was advantageous for the enhanced bulk crystallization of Mg ₂ SiO ₄ nanocrystals within the glass matrix. With an increase in the TiO ₂ content, the size of Mg ₂ SiO ₄ nanocrystals decreased, leading to an improvement in the transmittance of the GCs. Crystallization of Mg ₂ SiO ₄ nanocrystals promoted the increase in Vickers hardness and ion‐exchange DOL obviously, and the Vickers hardness can further be improved by ion‐exchange. Ion‐exchange resulted in the transformation of NaAlSiO ₄ into KAlSiO ₄ . Results reported here are valuable for the design and preparation of GCs with excellent mechanical and ion‐exchange properties.