Silica-Encapsulated Germania Colloids as 3D-Printable Glass Precursors
[1];
[3];
[1]
- Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry, Creighton University, 2500 California Plaza, Omaha, Nebraska 68178, United States
- Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry, Creighton University, 2500 California Plaza, Omaha, Nebraska 68178, United States, Omaha North High Magnet School, 4410 N 36th Street, Omaha, Nebraska 68111, United States
- Materials Science Division, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, 7000 East Avenue, Livermore, California 94550, United States
Core–shell colloids make attractive feedstocks for three-dimensional (3D) printing mixed oxide glass materials because they enable synthetic control of precursor dimensions and compositions, improving glass fabrication precision. Toward that end, we report the design and use of core–shell germania–silica (GeO2–SiO2) colloids and their use as precursors to fabricate GeO2–SiO2 glass monoliths by direct ink write (DIW) 3D printing. By this method, GeO2 colloids were prepared in solution using sol–gel chemistry and formed oblong, raspberry-like agglomerates with ~15 nm diameter primary particles that were predominantly amorphous but contained polycrystalline domains. An ~15 nm encapsulating SiO2 shell layer was formed directly on the GeO2 core agglomerates to form core–shell GeO2–SiO2 colloids. For glass 3D printing, GeO2–SiO2 colloidal sols were formulated into a viscous ink by solvent exchange, printed into monoliths by DIW additive manufacturing, and sintered to transparent glasses. Characterization of the glass components demonstrates that the core–shell GeO2–SiO2 presents a feasible route to prepare quality, optically transparent low wt % GeO2–SiO2 glasses by DIW printing. Additionally, the results offer a novel, hybrid colloid approach to fabricating 3D-printed Ge-doped silica glass.
- Research Organization:
- Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States); Creighton Univ., Omaha, NE (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA); National Science Foundation (NSF); USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES); Nebraska EPSCoR First Award; Research Corporation for the Advancement of Science
- Grant/Contract Number:
- 16-SI-003; AC52-07NA27344; ECCS-2025298
- OSTI ID:
- 1867067
- Alternate ID(s):
- OSTI ID: 1869522; OSTI ID: 1869573
- Report Number(s):
- LLNL-JRNL-832069; LLNL-JRNL- 832069
- Journal Information:
- ACS Omega, Journal Name: ACS Omega Vol. 7 Journal Issue: 20; ISSN 2470-1343
- Publisher:
- American Chemical SocietyCopyright Statement
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
Refractive Index and Abbe Number Tuning via 3D Printable Optical Quality Silica–Titania–Germania Glasses
Sol-Gel Based Nanoparticles for 3D Printing of Optical Glass