How did scientists print 3D fine art items with high details from glass?

A group of scientists in Germany successfully printed small but very complex objects with glass materials, including biscuits or castles . In the future, carefully This technique can be used to produce more useful things such as complicated lenses, filters, and even fine art items that need to go through the hands of skilled craftsmen. high.

The researchers used a "liquid glass" to create highly complex, transparent and highly detailed shapes, according to a study published in the journal Nature. More importantly, these glass objects are created using standard and commonly used 3D printers today. However, the new technique requires the help of a high-temperature furnace, which seems less popular for most of us. Still, research has opened up new potential for extremely important materials like glass in access to one of the revolutionary technologies of the era - 3D printing .

Today, 3D printing techniques are used to create everything - from shoes, houses to airplanes - with a variety of materials but most commonly plastic, followed by metal and ceramic. Meanwhile, glass is a type with many unique characteristics that can be mentioned as hard, durable, insulating, electric and is the key to creating high quality lenses for cameras. Although there are many advantages, 3D printing from this material is not easy because its melting temperature is very high . 'Glass is one of the oldest materials known to mankind, but it seems to be forgotten during the 21st century printing revolution , ' Bastian Rapp of the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, co-author of the study. said.

3D printed objects from glass materials.

It is known that this is not the first time scientists have tried 3D printing from glass materials. In 2015, a group of experts from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) created objects made of transparent glass with the help of a special 3D printer that helps glass melt in heat conditions. Also up to 1038 degrees Celsius. In addition, there are many other tests that have been carried out but have created weak and cloudy glass objects.

For the new study, the scientists say their technique is not the same as what was done before because it uses 3D printing technology available and is quite popular, according to Rapp. The special thing is in the mixture that Rapp and his colleagues used to print: 'liquid glass'. To create this mixture, they used glass powder and mixed it with a polymer solution. After the 'ink' is ready, it is condensed into a standard 3D printer to print the desired object. The object was then processed in a special furnace, at which time the glass beads were bound together and became transparent.

Using this technique, scientists created several small objects of a few millimeters in size such as castle gates, biscuits and a honeycomb structure. In addition, some objects are only a few tens of micrometres small thanks to new technology. Researchers believe that the level of detail can be increased by using more advanced 3D printers.'This technique allows us to master one of the oldest materials with amazing optical, mechanical and physical properties thanks to the most modern 3D printing tool , ' Rapp said.

In the future, this technique could be used to print 3D complex lenses for cameras on smartphones and parts for new processor generations, Rapp said. However, the application of this technology is really impossible to tell, from the production of handicrafts to the creation of glass panels with complex structures for buildings.