China3D printingNet September 11th, for the next generation of photonics, sensing and imaging technologies,3D printingThe function of glass is essential for the development of highly complex, free-form or small-scale structures.However, it turns out that it’s hard to3D printingThe glass is processed, and the melting point of the glass exceeds 1400°C, while still retaining its unique chemical, mechanical and optical properties.
The latest development is not only successful3D printingGlass has the same characteristics and shape as commercial glass, and has further developed specific3D printingTechnology has come to print glass structures with unprecedented scale and complexity, and with customizable optical properties.One of them is OptoGlass3D, which is a novel developed by Glassomer GmbH and Nanoscribe GmbH3D printingThe glass method is led by Professor Bastian Rapp from the University of Freiburg and the head of NeptunLab.
Image courtesy of NeptunLab KIT
The OptoGlass3D project received a one-year funding of 100,000 euros from ATTRACT. This is a collaborative program that brings together European research, industry, and investment communities to develop next-generation transmissions by simplifying breakthrough innovations and using new technologies. Sensing and imaging solutions. Large-scale open innovation model. In turn, ATTRACT is funded by the “EU Horizon 2020” program and has so far provided grants to 170 projects dedicated to breakthrough innovation.
In 2017, researchers at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) developed a3D printingThe stereolithography (SLA) method of glass has a resolution of tens of microns, and may even be 150-500 nanometers (only ten times the size of silica particles).By using a photocurable polymer injected with glass nano-powder as the material, the method can be carried out at room temperature3D printing, And produce objects with optical, surface and composition characteristics comparable to commercial fused silica glass. Their research was published in the journal Nature and led by Frederik Kotz and Bastian Rapp. They established Glassomer GmbH in 2018 to produce and supply Glassomers, a new type of material that can also be used in any off-the-shelf SLA 3D printingmachine.As a “liquid glass” method to deal with similar polymers3D printingFused silica glass.
Soon, the company relied on its3D printingThe innovation of glass has won many awards such as the Formnext 2019 kick-off challenge.This liquid glass material is a nanocomposite material containing amorphous silica material, which can be used for3D printingAlmost any kind of glass object (its properties are exactly the same as commercial fused silica glass), its characteristic resolution is tens of microns, and the surface roughness is within a few microns of nanometers.
Kotz, Chief Scientific Officer of Glassomer, explained the relevance of these developments:
Normally, these are done using polymers, but polymers lack the transparency and resistance to extreme temperatures and chemicals provided by high-purity glass. High opacity is also important for optical data processing and for high-power lasers, which also require heat-resistant materials. At the same time, various industrial and scientific applications require materials that can cope with hazardous chemicals. People have always wanted to use glass in these applications, but it is not always possible because it is not possible to form with these high resolutions. Pure glass (silica) melts at such a high temperature that it is difficult to form a strong mold for it, while low-purity glass lacks the required properties. These industrial applications also require smaller and more complex structures than other glass forming methods. “
Image courtesy of KIT and NeptunLab
The process consists of two stages, in which the composite material is first3D printing, And then heated and sintered at 600°C and 1300°C respectively to leave a completely transparent, uniform, and non-porous glass object.
Image courtesy of KIT and NeptunLab, Glassomer, Nanoscribe
In collaboration with Nanoscribe and Glassomer, the OptoGlass3D project will develop specific materials for 2PP technology and then commercialize them. As stated in the project objectives:
“During this project, the consortium will develop a LiquidGlass formula that can be constructed by Nanoscribe’s 2PP process and the required process conditions, parameters, and (possibly) instrument adaptability. Based on the LiquidGlass process formula, modifications will be made to allow Generate optical glasses with adjustable optical properties (such as refractive index), which will be adjustable in the range of 1.46 to 1.50. The verification of the technical capabilities will be demonstrated through the manufacture of demonstration samples, which are aimed at adjustable refraction and The potential of glass components for high-resolution diffractive optics.”
grass3D printingEarly methods explored the use of glass powder in sintering systems.This situation continues to develop. In 2015, Israel’s Micron3DP announced its use of glass based on high-temperature extrusion.3D printingsystem. However, these are limited due to the porosity and uniformity of the glass structure. Due to a lack of sufficient market at the time, the company stopped production of the product.
Since then, researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology3D printingFurther progress has been made in this regard, and they have developed extrusion-based fused glass printers: G3DP and improved G3DP2 for industrial production.Due to this3D printingThe resolution of glass is limited, so it is not suitable for high-tech applications that require high resolution and precise microstructures.However, it does allow manufacturing to be used only3D printingComplicated, customized parts manufactured, and these parts can be used in aesthetic design and architecture, these parts were exhibited at Milan Design Week 2017.
In 2017, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory) developed a direct ink writing method that can print glass at room temperature, allowing high-resolution parts with higher optical uniformity. As a result, the properties and composition of the glass can be adjusted, for example, allowing the printing of glasses with different refractive indices in a single planar optical device. In 2019, researchers from Universite Laval in Canada published a study in the Optical Materials Express (Optical Materials Express), which showed that the filament-based method can be used for complex geometric shapes.3D printingChalcogenide glass is researched, and this method has a wide range of applications and more in infrared sensors and imaging applications in the fields of national defense and security, biomedicine, telecommunications, etc.Such advancements such as OptoGlass3D are3D printingGlass opens up a series of novel applications and possibilities, especially in the next generation of free-form optics, sensors, imaging and microfluidic devices.
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