研究人员US Department of Defense- 后面MIT Lincoln Laboratoryhave come up with a novel low-temperature approach to 3D printing glass objects.
与传统的玻璃3D打印和后加工不同，涉及将零件暴露于1,000°C或以上的温度下，科学家的涉及将定制的，高度填充的墨水分层，可在250°C下治愈。由于其材料成分的可及性和过程的简单性，该团队认为它可以“促进具有独特特征的玻璃对象的广泛生产”。
“We have shown a modular system that can be tuned to print a wide variety of inorganic glasses with embedded functional nanomaterials (dielectric, metallic and optical),” explain the scientists in their paper. “We envision this versatile materials platform, when combined with multi-material additive manufacturing, will enable the fabrication of a wide variety of robust microsystems.”
Glass 3D printing’s thermal problem?
Though glass 3D printing remains at a relatively early stage of development, the technology is beginning to show potential as a means of realizing objects with more complex geometries than those possible via traditional glass processing.
Using multi-material techniques, for instance, researchers are increasingly able to create parts like optical lenses and microfluidic devices with higher mechanical strength and graded refractive indices. Given the sub-millimeter features it’s now possible to achieve using 3D printing, the technology’s also showing potential as a means of producing glass objects capable of enhancing devices’ functionalities.
话虽如此，当通过立体光刻创建时，无论是沉积还是在删除过程中，这种部分都会受到高温的影响。这些步骤倾向于产生稳定的玻璃结构，但也需要使用专门的耐火齿轮，并且它们与热敏材料可能不兼容，从而限制了用户对原料的选择。
“Emerging techniques for additively generating inorganic structures have the potential to disrupt the ceramic and glass industries,” say the team in their paper. “Glass offers advantages over other additive manufacturing materials, such as improved biocompatibility and enhanced thermal stability. However, current methods for producing glass require elevated temperatures to produce a completely inorganic part.”
麻省理工学院低温替代品
Central to the researchers’ alternative, is a custom nano-composite they’ve developed. Composed of functional nanoparticles embedded in a sodium silicate solution, as well as silver particles in its conductive iteration, the ink is printable at much lower temperatures than normal. Once formulated, this material was put into action by the team via a DIW-equipped 3-axisAerotechgantry system.
After creating some basic shapes and structures, the scientists found that mounting barrels of structural and silver inks onto the machine’s two independent z-axes, enabled the creation of capacitors and resistors. These parts, following curing in a mineral oil bath, showed a high level of stability, though the MIT team admit that they didn’t quite have the same optical clarity as sintered parts.
Through later imaging, the researchers also found they’d been able to achieve different trace lengths with their prototype resistors, and tweak the permittivity levels of their material to change the capacity of capacitors produced, with those made from barium, strontium and titanium oxide having the highest power factor.
根据团队的说法，他们的实验表明他们的过程可以量身定制，以生产“广泛的电子材料和集成的微系统”。向前迈进，科学家计划专注于提高生产的零件的光学清晰度，并为它们提供分级属性，以进一步扩大其潜在应用。
团队在论文中总结道：“这种技术的主要优势在于简单。”“我们认为，这种基于硅酸盐的策略将有助于与目前可用的化学和热兼容性更宽的定制微流体化学反应器的生产。此外，我们预测这些材料将允许创建新型的高功率射频设备。”
将玻璃3D打印付诸实践
Glass 3D printing may not have been commercialized just yet, but the technology continues to find new applications, many of which have focused on photonics. As one of the leading start-ups working in this emerging field,Glassomerhas come up with a 3D printing silica nanocomposite of its own, which has since been 3D printed at room temperature into玻璃零件，人头发的厚度。
Similarly, scientists at the弗莱堡大学以前曾与Nanoscribe到两光子聚合3D print glass silica microstructures。同样，通过使用Glassomer材料，协作团队发现他们能够创建具有仅6纳米表面粗糙度的复杂物体，这显着少于许多其他玻璃零件中的40-200纳米。
该领域的另一个公司领导研究是Formnext 2021 start-up challenge winnerNobula。In an interview with 3D Printing Industry last year, the company’s CEO and Co-founder Chunxin Liu revealed that it was aiming to bring a dedicated glass 3D printer and accompanying feedstock to market, at some point in FY 2022.
The researchers’ findings are detailed in their paper titled “玻璃的低温添加剂制造雷电竞充值,” co-authored by Bradley Duncan, Devon Beck, Paul Miller, Ryan Benz and Melissa Smith.
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Featured image shows MIT’s Lincoln Laboratory. Photo via MIT.
