Microstructures of La-doped low thermal expansion cordierite ceramics

Microstructures of a La₂O₃-doped cordierite ceramic used as a low thermal expansion material were investigated by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) including energy-dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) analyses in connection with the thermal expansion properties. TEM and scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM)-EDS revealed that cordierite grains possess accumulated dense strain, and the grain boundaries are enriched with La and Si, forming an intergranular glassy phase. In-situ TEM observation heated up to 800°C deduced that the accumulated lattice strain and the lattice parameters change with increase of temperature, although the microstructure remains almost unchanged. It was shown by conventional and interferometric dilatometry that the volume of sintered material contracts with increase of temperature, but it expands with further rise in temperature, drawing a minimum thermal expansion coefficient at around room temperature. XRD analyses revealed that the volume thermal expansion of cordierite grains is in reasonable agreement with that of the intergranular phase at a temperature of 800°C or lower, while there is a significant difference in both the expansions at higher temperature. Therefore, the unchanged grain volume around room temperature, which is caused by the contraction along the a-axis as revealed by XRD analyses, is the reason for the low thermal expansion coefficient of the sintered material. We considered that residual stresses resulting from the thermal expansion mismatches at higher temperature has little effect on the dimensional stability of the sintered material, because the presence of glass would enable stress-free conditions at temperatures above the glass transition.