Published online by Cambridge University Press: 28 February 2011
Studies on the structures and crystallization behavior of gels in TiO2, GeO2, SiO2-GeO2 and PbO-GeO2 systems are presented to analyze the differences in structures and crystallization behavior of gel-derived glasses and conventional glasses. The kinetic parameters for crystallization such as activation energies and frequency factors of gels, gel-derived glasses and conventional glasses in the GeO2-PbO system are presented to elucidate their difference in nucleation and crystallization behaviors. The influence of gel processing parameters such as pH and water concentration on the crystallization behavior of gels are discussed.