Up-Cycling of LCD Glass by Additive Manufacturing of Porous Translucent Glass Scaffolds

Additive manufacturing technologies, compared to conventional shaping methods, offer great opportunities in design versatility, for the manufacturing of highly porous ceramic components. However, the application to glass powders, later subjected to viscous flow sintering, involves significant challenges, especially in shape retention and in the achievement of a substantial degree of translucency in the final products. The present paper disclosed the potential of glass recovered from liquid crystal displays (LCD) for the manufacturing of highly porous scaffolds by direct ink writing and masked stereolithography of fine powders mixed with suitable organic additives, and sintered at 950 degrees C, for 1-1.5 h, in air. The specific glass, featuring a relatively high transition temperature (T-g similar to 700 degrees C), allowed for the complete burn-out of organics before viscous flow sintering could take place; in addition, translucency was favored by the successful removal of porosity in the struts and by the resistance of the used glass to crystallization.

Automated summary

This study explores the potential of using glass recovered from liquid crystal displays to manufacture highly porous scaffolds. The research demonstrates that selecting glass with a high transition temperature and the ability to completely burn out organics can achieve high translucency during sintering.