Rearrangement of the structure during nucleation of a cordierite glass doped with TiO(2).

Ordering of disordered materials occurs during the activated process of nucleation that requires the formation of critical clusters that have to surmount a thermodynamic barrier. The characterization of these clusters is experimentally challenging but mandatory to improve nucleation theory. In this paper, the nucleation of a magnesium alumino-silicate glass containing the nucleating oxide TiO(2) is investigated using neutron scattering with Ti isotopic substitution and (27)Al NMR. We identified the structural changes induced by the formation of crystals around Ti atoms and show important structural reorganization of the glassy matrix.