Liquid Glass: Casting Glass like Cement

Glass is an important material with many outstanding properties for a wide range of applications in science, industry and society. The structuring of glass, however, usually requires wet chemical etching using hazardous hydrofluoric acid, making it difficult to process, a major disadvantage of glass.
Bastian E. Rapp, Frederik Kotz and co-workers at Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (Eggenstein-Leopoldshafen, Germany) has now introduced “Liquid Glass” (LiqGlass), a viscous free-flowing, photocurable nanocomposite containing amorphous silica which can be structured by room-temperature replication using soft molds made from polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS). The cured LiqGlass is then converted to dense high-quality solid glass via thermal debinding and sintering. The resulting glass is chemically and physically identical to commercial fused silica glass. Using LiqGlass it is possible to convert arbitrary physical objects made from almost any material with feature sizes in the range of tens of micrometers and roughness of a few nanometers into glass rapidly and conveniently. Lamination of cured LiqGlass allows the creation of complex physical structures with e.g. closed cavities or microfluidic channels which is an important step towards establishing glass as a material in rapid prototyping and additive manufacturing.

[@Clever_Motel]

This process makes the glass replica smaller than the original object, so in prototyping you'll have to scale up the mold to account for the reduction in size. So the glass prototype is at the correct scale for the application.

[@marcowen1506]

I'm curious: how do you avoid closed porosity during the sintering process?

[@MikeJones-mf2rt]

Vacuum

[@Rhannmah]

I see the potential to have this glass powder mixed in with polymers turned into 3d printable plastic. That way, the shape could be 3d printed instead of molded. After printing, a quick trip to the oven would get rid of the polymer, leaving the glass behind. I wonder if this is possible...

[@Forzoma]

Shape of the glass powder particles needs to minimize the amount and distance of polymer between grains, but yes great idea! -B

[@serge.gilles.richard-seriago]

Fascinating!

[@jairogurgel3059]

Aqui e BRASIL gostei do que vó mas não entendi tem como colocar uma tradução em português gratidao

[@MOTHERSKYWOOD]

Thank you, Xin Su, for the informative video! I am interested in casting a fresnel lens for a green energy project, and understand the plight of developing a new product. This could likley develop a new echelon of craftsmanship in our time, as optics are a highly bottlenecked field due to the constraints of accurate moulding. I am also researching casting with sodium silicate but am interested in the Rapp process for further developments in the future. Will Dr. Rapp sell the monomer-glass mix and provide the instructions?

[@Mechanochemistry]

Hi Yakov thank you for your interest - I think you can contact Dr. Rapp directly and I'm sure he will be able to offer more help. You can find his contact information here: www.imt.kit.edu/639_214.php

[@ionicaslavu666]

hi, sorry for the question, what polymer did you use? I understood that the is a thermopolymerizing polymer, is it correct? I'm a theacher of a dental technician school, I want to propose to my students the same experiment since we have the means.

[@FK-mu3tw]

www.glassomer.com

[@AnonEMouse-lk3ji]

Can this be used to create art pieces with color options?

[@Mechanochemistry]

I think so as long as the colorants you use can tolerate the high temperature for sintering.

[@amadeo4977]

Hey I reached out to glassomer about employing this technology in the production of a consumer product and they responded stating they do not sell the materials for injection molding, printing, or moulding, and only offer small batch production. I have not heard anything since. I am seeking a consultant for the integration of this process into the production of a product.

[@MrGamer-mh6dp]

What is the name of the machine in which you put the glass

[@melmorris134]

I may have missed a section of the recording but the thermal based machine is a standard glass kiln. Sorry if there’s another machine in there that I missed.

[@Intelligenz_Bestie]

i believe LG now deploys an industrial scale variant of this process for their micro-lens array(MLA) panel OLEDs to achieve increased light-output

[@FK-mu3tw]

Interesting do you have any press release or similar?

[@andrewwheeler5064]

when or where is this available to buy?

[@Mechanochemistry]

+Andrew Wheeler Hello - I don't think this is commercially available now but if you are interested in getting samples, maybe you can try to reach Dr. Bastian E. Rapp, the corresponding author. You can find his contact info here: www.imt.kit.edu/english/388_693.php

[@walterbunn280]

Ehhh.... So the light curing polymer seems unnecessary. In fact, burning out the light curing polymer would actually create more issues than simply using something like sodium silicate because the polymers that burn cleanly without leaving distortions are not exactly benign. Especially when lit on fire. Sodium silicate offers the same advantages, but i don't have to worry about a proprietary chemical mixture reacting with something.

[@jaromor8808]

Sorry, this is gonna be a stupid question, I know zero about this stuff. Does this mean you can turn sodium silicate into a glass somehow? I would imagine there would be tons of videos demonstrating that, but all I could find is "how to create sodium silicate" or "how to dissolve water glass". Am I getting this wrong?

[@walterbunn280]

​@@jaromor8808 You can indeed turn sodium silicate into a glass. The excess amount of water, which is generally viewed as a feature of water glass, is actually a detriment when making such glass products, but it can still be done. This actually greatly drops the temperature at which silica dioxide converts to a liquid, so searching out Soda Glass might yield better results. In that context, sodium hydroxide is used as a glass flux under high heat instead of allowing sodium hydroxide and silica dioxide to react in water.

[@jaromor8808]

​@@walterbunn280 Thank you very much. Would you know a video where that process/procedure is demonstrated? I must be doing something wrong when looking around on youtube. Maybe it is something so trivial that no one bothers to record it? :) Again, my apology, I am complete noob to this.

[@meloniejen8400]

make a glass cookie, paint it, and give it to your drunk arch nemesis :)

[@iLife-hv8pb]

I will try it

[@Meeefer]

I have to say this seems like a very fascinating method! I have only one question: Why does the writing on the glass tile not dissolve when you put it into the solvent? I'm very thrilled to see the future development of this technolgy!!

[@xinsu9597]

+Meeefer Hi thanks for your interest! To answer your question: the ink itself was probably not soluble in organic solvent, and the reason that the writing on the polymer film turned blurred was dissolution of the polymer rather than the ink... I think:)

[@Meeefer]

+Xin Su Thank you for your quick response. That seems reasonable!

[@nanouk142]

hello, great video , i was wondering myself about something not related to the video unfortunatly but i hope you may know the answer i've seen many videos talking about hydrophobic liquid glass but in other way i also know the liquid glass that is simply sodium silicate that i don't think is hydrophobic once dryed do you know the difference between these 2 thank you.

[@granolakitti8521]

Could it be used in a resin printer? 🤔

[@FK-mu3tw]

Yes. Its now commercially available from the company glassomer.

[@morninghusk]

what soft replication mould do you mean exactly - and could you list the chemicals not in the video but as text please?

[@morninghusk]

as in what photo curable monomer is as far as off the shelf items i can buy

[@Mechanochemistry]

Right now I don't think it's commercially available, but you can contact Dr. Bastian E. Rapp, www.imt.kit.edu/english/388_693.php to check technical details.

[@Erowens98]

Could you cast something like, say, a wine glass, with this method?

[@Mechanochemistry]

I don't think that will be a problem

[@Mechanochemistry]

Although its suitability as a food container has to be confirmed before you can actually use it for your drinks

[@Erowens98]

Xin Su I would think it would be safe, as long as the alcohol can't desolve it. Which i doubt it could. But obviously it needs to be confirmed.

[@kenthartland8581]

Interesting. I'm almost 70 and my hearing is not what it used to be, but did anyone else have a hard time understanding the audio? The English was perfect, just it seemed like periods of low volume or indistinct speech.

[@allandulles7108]

German accent, and too close to the mic I think. Had a hard time understanding it as well.

[@allandulles7108]

Interesting, but I think its utility is very limited for most applications.

[@19rocket64]

sintering....same as all ceramics. dimensional stability? net shape? Solve those and you have a usable product.

[@MichaelSmith-xb5cp]

Shrinkage much?

[@josue9687]

That's what I was thinking of. Looking at that coin and cookie, and their glass replicas, shrinkage is considerable.

[@free_spirit1]

All sintered objects shrink, this also happens in MIM process

[@Hundred100]

so lets just use clear resin instead

[@melmorris134]

I’m about to try that but without heating to the necessary temperature as I’m not sure how the resin will react to direct heat but hoping that the powdered glass responds more successfully to the heat generated during the curing process. 🤷🏻‍♀️ one can but only try. I have little hope of success.

[@T.R.A.I.N.I.N.G.]

Why is some chinese uploaded this?

[@xinsu9597]

Why is the question? Do you have any problem with this?

[@T.R.A.I.N.I.N.G.]

Xin Su you are chinese, why are you uploading this video of european people?

[@xinsu9597]

It's none of your business.

[@T.R.A.I.N.I.N.G.]

Xin Su why do you give such a mysterious answer? You chinese are so mysterious, just answer the question straightforwardly I don't want to solve one of your chinese riddles.

[@xinsu9597]

Why do you care and why does it matter? I don't have to justify myself to you, neither do all other Chinese.

[@misswildlife7905]

NO need to show a naked body through glass!!!

[@ronin2963]

Could you speak any slower. Just get to the point 😬

[@TVBASICINFO]

Shit