Additive Manufactured Stained Glass: New Chemistry to Modernize a Centuries-Old Craft

Overview

From uses in optics to architecture, stained glass has existed for several millennia. Metal-ion dopants are standardly introduced to conventionally made glasses via salt doping or by adding the metal to pure molten glass. The metals impart visible coloration due to the electronic absorption of complementary visible light wavelengths. Additive manufacturing (AM), better known as 3D printing, is an innovative technology to fabricate glasses in new geometries and compositions previously thought impossible. Here, we present a novel approach to AM-stained glass via a chemical route and direct-ink-write (DIW) AM. These new AM glasses were doped with a range of first-row transition metal complexes, focusing on Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, and Cu. Aqueous salts, ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA), and acetylacetonate (acac) dopants were studied as potential precursors, with acac compounds exhibiting the best performance for DIW AM. Sintering studies proved that all metal dopants yield transparent stained glasses. DIW prints of Mn, Fe, Co, and Cu have been fabricated, and characterization of those materials is ongoing. Future experiments will seek to apply these novel inks to fabricate intricate stained-glass materials, ushering this heritage craft into the twenty-first century.

Competition history

• AJAS 2024 Category not listed

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