Fabrication of glass components by sintering of commercial glass powder

Abstract

In this work, plasma display panel (PDP) glass bodies were prepared by pressureless sintering (PLS) and hot isostatic pressing (HIP). The effects of consolidation conditions including sintering temperature, sintering atmosphere, and HIP variables on final properties were investigated. The glass compacts were sintered at 625-800 degrees C, holding for 0-5 h, in different atmospheres. To increase the properties, post-sintering HIP was carried out at 650 degrees C with a pressure of 82 MPa. The microstructures and optical properties were investigated by a scanning electron microscope (SEM) and a spectrophotometer. The experiment results showed that the sintering conditions such as temperature and atmosphere have a large influence on the glass bodies. The relative density of the sintered glass body reached a maximum of 92%; however, after HIP the density reached 99%, almost to full density. The transmittance of HIP material reached 26% at a wavelength of 800 nm, a relatively low value compared with fused glass bodies. The main reasons were scattering from pores and impurities traced to the raw powder, as verified by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd and Techna Group S.r.l. All rights reserved.