Monday, February 24, 2020
Innovation: Swiss researchers create a resin to print glass
Using a specially developed resin, scientists at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) in Zurich have designed complex, porous glass objects using a 3D printing process.
In a recent study published in the journal Natural Materials, researchers from the Complex Materials Group at ETH Zurich explain that they have printed complex glass objects. Their new process is based on the principles of stereolithography, one of the first 3D printing techniques of the 1980s. To do this, they developed a resin composed of liquid plastic and a siloxane, which has the particularity of hardening when exposed to UV light.
Complex and technical objects
An object can therefore be built layer by layer. By modifying certain parameters for each layer, such as the size of the pores, the researchers have realised that low light intensity produces large pores and high irradiation produces small pores.
The microstructure of the object can also be modified by adding borate or phosphate to the resin. This makes it possible, among other things, to produce objects made of different types of glass.
"Digital fabrication of oxide glasses by 3D printing represents a major paradigm shift in the way glasses are designed and manufactured, allowing the exploration of functionalities previously unattainable by current technologies," the researchers say.
The results of this research and examples of its implementation will be presented at 3D Print.
Editor: Nadia Daki
Photo credit: Group for Complex Materials / ETH Zurich