Study of the Effect of Calcium Substitution by Magnesium in the Vitreous System 3P(2)O(5)-2K(2)O-(1 − x) CaO-x MgO

Phosphate glasses have potentially interesting properties that can be used in various applications. Recently, different studies are focusing on their dissolution behaviours that can be modified to suit some environmental applications, such as controlled-release fertilisers. In this work, magnesium had been suggested to improve the glass durability of 3P(2)O(5)-2K(2)O-(1 − x)CaO-xMgO glasses (0 ≤ x ≤ 1). Indeed, its effect on glass structure, thermal properties and most important dissolution behaviours were studied, in order to evaluate their suitability of being used as controlled-release fertilisers. Various compositions in which calcium was partially replaced by magnesium were prepared by melting at 800 °C. The samples were characterised by differential scanning calorimetry, density measurements, X-Ray diffraction, FTIR spectroscopy and Raman spectroscopy. The dissolution behaviours were investigated using inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry ICP-OES, pH measurements and SEM. Substitution of calcium by magnesium reduced the glass density, owing to the lower atomic weight of magnesium compared to calcium, and caused an increase in glass transition and crystallisation temperatures. Magnesium substitution significantly improved the chemical durability of the glasses due to more covalent Mg–O bond than the Ca–O bond. This study demonstrated that 3P(2)O(5)-2K(2)O-0.3CaO-0.7MgO (x = 0.7) had a dissolution profile adequate to the criteria of controlled-release fertilisers and could be used to nourish the plants with phosphorus, potassium, calcium and magnesium.