Page 48 - Plastics News April 2021

teChnoLogy

important process in the plastics industry and enables the
fast and cost-effective production of components in so-called
high-throughput in almost any shape and size. Transparent
glass could not be molded in this process until now. With the
newly developed Glassomer injection molding technology
from a special granulate designed in-house, it is now possible
to also mold glass in high throughput at just 130 °C. The
injection-molded components from the 3D printer are then
converted into glass in a heat treatment process: The result
is pure quartz glass. This process requires less energy than
conventional glass melting, resulting in energy efficiency. The
formed glass components have a high surface quality, so that
post-treatment steps such as polishing are not required. The
novel designs made possible by Glassomer's glass injection
molding technology have a wide range of applications
from data technology, optics and solar technology to a so-
called lab-on-a-chip and medical technology. "We see great
potential especially for small high-tech glass components
with complicated geometries. In addition to transparency,
the very low coefficient of expansion of quartz glass also
makes the technology interesting. Sensors and optics work
reliably at any temperature if the key components are made of glass," explains Dr. Frederik Kotz, group leader at the
Laboratory of Process Technology and Chief Scientific Officer (CSO) at Glassomer. "We have also been able to show
that micro-optical glass coatings can increase the efficiency of solar cells. This technology can now be used to produce
cost-effective high-tech coatings with high thermal stability. There are a number of commercial opportunities for it."
The team around Frederik Kotz and Markus Mader, a doctoral student at the Laboratory of Process Technology, solved
previously existing problems in the injection molding of glass such as porosity and particle abrasion. In addition,
key process steps in the new method were designed to use water as the base material, making the technology more
environmentally friendly and sustainable. Bastian Rapp is executive director of the Freiburg Materials Research Center
FMF and a member of the Cluster of Excellence Living, Adaptive and Energy-autonomous Materials Systems (livMatS)
at the University of Freiburg, which develops novel, bio-inspired material systems. Rapp is also co-founder and Chief
Technical Officer (CTO) of Glassomer GmbH, which develops high-resolution 3D printing technologies for glass. His
research has earned him a Consolidator Grant from the European Research Council (ERC), among other awards.

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Plastics News April 2021 48