Silicate glasses are typically difficult to plate and require many pretreatment steps to ensure uniform deposition and adequate adhesion. However, the incorporation of metallic surfaces and patterns allows functionalities such as electrical conductivity, thermal conductivity, catalytic activity that can enable the design and fabrication of functional glass devices, e.g., microfluidic circuits, electrochemical reactors and freeform optics.
LLNL researchers have continued to develop their pioneering DIW 3D-printed glass optics technology that allows for the 3D printing of single- and multi-material optical glass compositions in complex shapes. This LLNL invention further proposes incorporating dopants (including, but not limited to TiO2 and Pd) into slurries and inks for 3D printing of glass components that can then be directly plated. By using the ability to spatially control the composition of the glass, it is possible to 3D print glass with prescribed patterns of doped composition (e.g. a silica glass where certain regions are doped with TiO2 and Pd). When the entire glass construct is placed in an electroless plating bath, only the doped regions will be metallized. Several methods are proposed including DIW 3D printed green body, light-based stereolithography and direct powder bed melting.
Image Caption: Photograph of glass sample unplated on one side (left) and plated with nickel phosphorous on the other (right)
Current stage of technology development: TRL 3
LLNL has filed for patent protection on this invention.
U.S. Patent Application No. 2023/0095982 System and Method for Direct Electroless Plating of 3D-Printable Glass for Selective Surface Patterning published 3/30/2023
- Allows silicate glasses to be plated easily and effectively with metallic layers.
- Allows functionalities such as electric conductivity, thermal conductivity, catalytic activity to be designed and fabricated with great flexibility and versatility.
- Allows selective patterning of glass with custom designed functional metallic layers.
- Generate complex functional microfluidic circuits.
- Manufacture of electrochemical reactors.
- Fabrication of freeform electrooptical devices.
