Glass-Ceramics: A Key Technology for Advanced Engineering Applications

A special issue of Solids (ISSN 2673-6497).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 March 2024) | Viewed by 4581

Special Issue Editor


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Guest Editor
Dipartimento di Ingegneria Industriale, Università di Padova, Via Marzolo 9, 35131 Padova, Italy
Interests: cellular glasses and glass-ceramics; glass sintering; glass and glass-ceramic matrix composites; polymer-derived ceramics; silicate bioceramics; phosphate ceramics; additive manufacturing of ceramics
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

I am pleased to invite you to contribute to a Special Issue of Solids dedicated to glass-ceramics as a milestone for advanced engineering applications. As pointed out by Prof. E.D. Zanotto, a top researcher on glass crystallization, the conversion of glasses into glass-ceramics discloses an overwhelming ‘hidden beauty’. The beauty of glass-ceramics actually goes well beyond aesthetics. In fact, the tuning of conversion of a homogeneous glass into crystal phases embedded in more or less abundant residual glassy phase offers a distinctive control on structural and functional properties, and also on processing. As an example, the cooperation between glass and crystal phases is essential in glass-ceramics for bone tissue applications as well as in glass-ceramics for advanced optical applications or in ceramic joining. The delicate balance between viscous flow sintering and crystallization, in systems sensitive to surface nucleation, offers interesting possibilities of topological control of scaffolds produced by application of additive manufacturing technologies. Particular couplings of crystal phase and glass matrix are also references for technologies, e.g., relying on preceramic polymers or on alkali activation of natural or industrial silicates and alumino-silicates, not strictly leading to a homogeneous glass as intermediate processing step.

This Special Issue aims to collect the latest experiences on glass-ceramics for advanced applications, from the widest range of raw materials and processing strategies.

In this Special Issue, original research articles and reviews are welcome. Research areas may include (but not limited to) the following:

  • Nanostructured glass-ceramics (e.g., transformation-toughened);
  • Glass-ceramics for functional applications (e.g., optical applications);
  • Glass-ceramics for structural applications (e.g., dense and porous construction materials);
  • Bioactive and biocompatible glass-ceramics (e.g., materials for bone tissue applications, materials for dental applications);
  • Glass-ceramics from unconventional precursors (e.g., preceramic polymers, alkali activated materials);
  • Glass-ceramics for environmental applications (e.g., from waste upcycling or involved in environmental remediation);
  • Reactive sintering of glass and glass-based mixtures;
  • Additive manufacturing technologies supported by glass-ceramics.

I look forward to receiving your contributions.   

Dr. Enrico Bernardo
Guest Editor

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Keywords

  • glass-ceramics
  • additive manufacturing
  • scaffolds
  • foams
  • luminescence
  • sintering
  • polymer precursors

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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22 pages, 5738 KiB  
Article
Wet Chemical and Plasma Etching of Photosensitive Glass
by Ulrike Brokmann, Christoph Weigel, Luisa-Marie Altendorf, Steffen Strehle and Edda Rädlein
Solids 2023, 4(3), 213-234; https://doi.org/10.3390/solids4030014 - 21 Aug 2023
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 3562
Abstract
Photosensitive glasses for radiation-induced 3D microstructuring, due to their optical transparency and thermal, mechanical, and chemical resistance, enable the use of new strategies for numerous microscale applications, ranging from optics to biomedical systems. In this context, we investigated the plasma etching of photosensitive [...] Read more.
Photosensitive glasses for radiation-induced 3D microstructuring, due to their optical transparency and thermal, mechanical, and chemical resistance, enable the use of new strategies for numerous microscale applications, ranging from optics to biomedical systems. In this context, we investigated the plasma etching of photosensitive glasses after their exposure and compared it to the established wet chemical etching method, which offers new degrees of freedom in microstructuring control and microsystem fabrication. A CF4/H2 etching gas mixture with a constant volumetric flow of 30 sccm and a variable H2 concentration from 0% to 40% was utilized for plasma-based etching, while for wet chemical etching, diluted hydrofluoric acid (1% ≤ cHF ≤ 20%) was used. Therefore, both etching processes are based on a chemical etching attack involving fluorine ions. A key result is the observed reversion of the etch selectivity between the initial glassy and partially crystallized parts that evolve after UV exposure and thermal treatment. The crystallized parts were found to be 27 times more soluble than the unexposed glass parts during wet chemical etching. During the plasma etching process, the glassy components dissolve approximately 2.5 times faster than the partially crystalline components. Unlike wet chemical etching, the surfaces of plasma etched photostructured samples showed cone- and truncated-cone-shaped topographies, which supposedly resulted from self-masking effects during plasma etching, as well as a distinct physical contribution from the plasma etching process. The influences of various water species on the etching behaviors of the homogeneous glass and partially crystallized material are discussed based on FTIR-ATR and in relation to the respective etch rates and SNMS measurements. Full article
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