Over the past decade, the advancement of additive manufacturing or 3D printing has shown an extraordinary potential to revolutionize many fields, including glass science. We present the development and characterization of sol-gel germania (GeO2) colloids for use in germania-silica or GeO2-SiO2 feedstocks for fabricating glass by direct ink write (DIW) 3D printing. GeO2-SiO2 feedstocks are of interest because silica-germania glasses exhibit similar physical and optical properties to traditional silica glass but with improved optical transmission and a tunable refractive index. We report several analyses that investigate fundamental relationships between sol-gel chemistry and resultant colloid morphology and structure. Results presented will elucidate the role of key reaction parameters, namely, temperature and water stoichiometry, in directing GeO2 colloid growth and new mechanistic insights. Additionally, the application of resulting GeO2 colloids in the production of hybrid, core-shell GeO2-SiO2 silica colloids and their structural evolution from colloids to printed glass will be highlighted, as well.

Sol-gel derived germania colloids: Growth, structure, and application in glass 3D printing

ACS Spring Meeting 2021

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