Rapid Pressureless Sintering of Glasses

Abstract

Silica glasses have wide applications in industrial fields due to their extraordinary properties, such as high transparency, low thermal expansion coefficient, and high hardness. However, current methods of fabricating silica glass generally require long thermal treatment time (up to hours) and complex setups, leading to high cost and slow manufacturing speed. Herein, to obtain high‐quality glasses using a facile and rapid method, an ultrafast high‐temperature sintering (UHS) technique is reported that requires no additional pressure. Using UHS, silica precursors can be densified in seconds due to the large heating rate (up to 102 K s−1) of closely placed carbon heaters. The typical sintering time is as short as ≈10 s, ≈1–3 orders of magnitude faster than other methods. The sintered glasses exhibit relative densities of > 98% and high visible transmittances of ≈90%. The powder‐based sintering process also allows rapid doping of metal ions to fabricate colored glasses. The UHS is further extended to sinter other functional glasses such as indium tin oxide (ITO)‐doped silica glass, and other transparent ceramics such as Gd‐doped yttrium aluminum garnet. This study demonstrates an UHS proof‐of‐concept for the rapid fabrication of high‐quality glass and opens an avenue toward rapid discovery of transparent materials.

Insulative Biobased Glaze from Wood Laminates Obtained by Self‐Adhesion

“…Recently, wood modification through various delignification and polymer infiltration protocols, used to preserve its natural structure and fiber direction, has resulted in promising transparent wood (TW), [5,6] which has been considered as an energyefficient candidate to replace glass. [7] To produce TW, one needs to address the lack of wood's transparency, given the micro-sized channels that scatter light in the visible range and its composition (30% by mass of wood is lignin which absorbs visible light). [8] Thus, to make wood transparent, light absorption and light scattering (at the air/cell wall interfaces and inside wood's cell walls) should be minimized.…”

“…Recently, wood modification through various delignification and polymer infiltration protocols, used to preserve its natural structure and fiber direction, has resulted in promising transparent wood (TW), [ 5,6 ] which has been considered as an energy‐efficient candidate to replace glass. [ 7 ]…”

A Perspective on Emerging and Future Sintering Technologies of Ceramic Materials

“…UHS was applied to many different ceramics including alumina, zirconia, strontium titanate, glass, various battery materials, and silicon nitride, [ 23,24,55–58 ] and has proven to be useful for more complex shapes as well. [ 55 ]…”

“…UHS was applied to many different ceramics including alumina, zirconia, strontium titanate, glass, various battery materials, and silicon nitride, [23,24,[55][56][57][58] and has proven to be useful for more complex shapes as well. [55] Generally, UHS sintering can result in microstructures and properties with similar features as conventional sintering (certainly in much shorter time).…”

Ultrafast materials synthesis and manufacturing techniques for emerging energy and environmental applications

“…(1) These methods are ultrafast and highly efficient. [31][32][33][34][35] Unlike conventional methods that take hours or even days, ultrafast synthesis methods usually require a few nanoseconds to a few minutes. The short reaction times of ultrafast methods not only provide a more precise and targeted energy input, but also can considerably reduce the unavoidable heat dissipation through radiation, convection, and conduction.…”