Laboratory of Process Engineering, NeptunLab, Department of Microsystems Engineering (IMTEK), Albert Ludwig University of Freiburg, 79110, Freiburg, Germany.
Freiburg Materials Research Center (FMF), Albert Ludwig University of Freiburg, 79104, Freiburg, Germany.
Adv Sci (Weinh). 2022 Nov;9(31):e2204385. doi: 10.1002/advs.202204385. Epub 2022 Sep 4.
Transparent ceramics like magnesium aluminate spinel (MAS) are considered the next step in material evolution showing unmatched mechanical, chemical and physical resistance combined with high optical transparency. Unfortunately, transparent ceramics are notoriously difficult to shape, especially on the microscale. Therefore, a thermoplastic MAS nanocomposite is developed that can be shaped by polymer injection molding at high speed and precision. The nanocomposite is converted to dense MAS by debinding, pre-sintering, and hot isostatic pressing yielding transparent ceramics with high optical transmission up to 84 % and high mechanical strength. A transparent macroscopic MAS components with wall thicknesses up to 4 mm as well as microstructured components with single micrometer resolution are shown. This work makes transparent MAS ceramics accessible to modern high-throughput polymer processing techniques for fast and cost-efficient manufacturing of macroscopic and microstructured components enabling a plethora of potential applications from optics and photonics, medicine to scratch and break-resistant transparent windows for consumer electronics.
透明陶瓷，如镁铝尖晶石（MAS），被认为是材料进化的下一步，具有无与伦比的机械、化学和物理抗性，同时还具有高透光率。不幸的是，透明陶瓷很难成型，尤其是在微尺度下。因此，开发了一种可通过高速和高精度聚合物注塑成型来成型的热塑性 MAS 纳米复合材料。该纳米复合材料通过脱胶、预烧结和热等静压转化为致密的 MAS，得到的透明陶瓷具有高达 84%的透光率和高机械强度。展示了具有高达 4 毫米壁厚的透明宏观 MAS 组件以及具有单个微米分辨率的微结构组件。这项工作使得现代高通量聚合物加工技术能够制造透明 MAS 陶瓷，从而快速且经济高效地制造宏观和微结构组件，为光学和光子学、医学以及用于消费电子产品的抗划伤和抗破裂透明窗口等诸多潜在应用打开了大门。
