Revolutionary technology for the production of glass parts will replace plastic parts

As you know, it is much easier to work with plastic than with glass, and this is one of the main reasons why most of the parts are made of plastic. However, this state of affairs could change dramatically thanks to a revolutionary technology that allows glass to be injection molded just like plastic.

Development of a unique technology

This unique technology was developed by a research group from the University of Freiburg in Germany under the leadership of E. Rapp and
F. Kots. The developed production technology of scientists was named Glassomer .

How it all works

The whole process of manufacturing glass parts begins with a special polymer, in which tiny particles of quartz glass are dispersed.

These embedded glass polymer granules are poured into a standard injection molding machine where the melting process takes place. Next, the already molten polymer is injected into a pre-prepared mold.

And at this point, the disc looks as if it is made of ordinary plastic. But then the process of washing with water and transporting the workpiece to the furnace, heated to a temperature of 600 degrees Celsius, where the polymer is washed off and burned without residue, and only bound particles remain glass.

Then the workpiece cleaned in this way is heated to a temperature of 1300 degrees Celsius, in as a result, the sintering process takes place, forming an already finished product from pure quartz glass.

During the final sintering, the workpiece is compressed by 15% in each direction and the finished product is obtained at the exit.

Prospects for new technology

The technology developed by scientists not only makes it possible to produce complex glass parts quickly enough and in industrial scale, but also does not require a temperature of 2000 degrees Celsius, which is needed to melt conventional glass. This means that the production process is efficient and not energy intensive.

Also, as an additional bonus, the polymer, which initially binds glass particles and is washed out in the process, can be reused.

For a long time, glass has not been used to create complex structures due to the that working with glass required more energy and creating complex structures was often impossible.

Therefore, polymers were used to produce various parts, but scientists knew that the physical, optical, chemical and thermal properties of plastics are worse than those of glass.

Scientists managed to combine the processing of polymers from glass, and in the future, this technology will allow fast and effectively replace mass-produced products and complex polymer structures and components with glass. As a result, we will get more durable, greener and more efficient products.

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