Published online by Cambridge University Press: 31 January 2011
In this work, the influence of SiO2 additions in leucite ceramics on the bulk linear thermal expansion coefficient (TEC) especially during the phase transition, has been studied. Thermal expansion and x-ray diffraction measurements at high temperatures were carried out to characterize the tetragonal-cubic phase transition. TEC for reference and SiO2-added leucite samples exhibited similar behavior as a function of temperature. Before and after the phase transition, the TEC values were similar to those observed in non-SiO2-added samples, whereas during the phase transition, a maximum TEC value was observed and it tends to decrease as the SiO2 addition increases. This behavior could be caused by the formation of an intermediate phase with an extremely high TEC (70 × 10–6 °C−1) during the phase transformation. Furthermore, the results suggest that as the intermediate phase is partially suppressed via SiO2 addition, the cubic phase can be partially stabilized at temperatures as low as 200 °C.