Amorphous and crystalline oxides

[darkelf]

Can anyone explain the difference between amorphous and crystalline oxides.
I've tried google but can't find anything useful. I'm guessing that crystalline oxides should have a crystalline structure and as such crystalline properties. Would that be right?

 

[Astronuc]

Can anyone explain the difference between amorphous and crystalline oxides.
I've tried google but can't find anything useful. I'm guessing that crystalline oxides should have a crystalline structure and as such crystalline properties. Would that be right?

That's pretty much it. Crystalline oxides have a regular lattice structure, whereas amorphous have no regular lattice structure, or regularly ordered array of anions and cations. Glasses tend to be amorphous, while ceramics have a crystalline structure.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amorphous_solid
http://math.ucr.edu/home/baez/physics/General/Glass/glass.html

The Physics of Amorphous Solids By Richard Zallen