Degradation-controlling mechanisms in natural organic acid solutions of CaO–Al2O3–SiO2–B2O3 glass-ceramics by partially substituting Ca2+ with Ba2+ and Sr2+

Abstract

The degradation of environmentally friendly CaO–Al2O3–SiO2–B2O3 (CASB) glass-ceramics, which consist of anorthite and glass phase, was investigated in three natural organic acid solutions. The results indicated that citric acid had the most significant effect on the degradation of CASB glass-ceramics. While the chemical stability of anorthite is relatively poor, the glass phase also contributed significantly to the effective degradation of CASB glass-ceramics. Subsequently, Ba2+ or Sr2+ was used for full or partial substitution of Ca2+ in CASB glass-ceramics, and the degradation-controlling mechanism of the substituted CASB glass-ceramics was further researched. The full substitution of Ca2+ in CASB glass-ceramics by the two cations resulted in the occurrence of borate [BO4] units in the glass phases, and the interlinkage of [BO4] with broken silicate [SiO4] network structures caused a complementary network effect. Consequently, the degradation of CASB glass-ceramics by organic acids was reduced due to the improvements in the chemical stability of the modified glass-ceramics. Additionally, degradation control can also be achieved based on a mixed-alkali effect, originating from the partial substitution of Ca2+ in CASB glass-ceramics by Ba2+ or Sr2+. The degradable glass-ceramics have the potential to be applied in low-temperature co-fired ceramic technology because of their good physical properties, which include a dielectric constant of 3–5, a dielectric loss as low as 10−3, a coefficient of thermal expansion of 3–9 × 10−6/°C, and an average bending strength of about 47 MPa. Noticeably, the development of the degradable glass-ceramics is helpful to the low-cost and pollution-free recycling of valuable metal electrodes, which is significant for the sustainable development of electronic packaging technologies.