Feedstock Gel and Method of Making Glass-Ceramic Articles from the Feedstock Gel

摘要

A method of making a glass-ceramic article includes synthesizing a feedstock gel that includes a base oxide network comprising Na₂O, CaO, and SiO₂, in which a molar ratio of Na₂O:CaO:SiO₂ in the gel is 1:2:3, and then converting the feedstock gel into a glass-ceramic article such as a container or a partially-formed container. The conversion of the feedstock gel into a glass-ceramic container may be performed at a temperature that does not exceed 900° C. and may include the steps of pressing the feedstock gel into a compressed solid green-body, sintering the green-body into a solid monolithic body of a glass-ceramic material, deforming the solid monolithic glass-ceramic body into a glass-ceramic preform, and cooling the preform. A glass-ceramic article having a glass-ceramic material that has a molar ratio of Na₂O:CaO:SiO₂ that is 1:2:3 is also disclosed.