PGP is a new glass-ceramic material and is heading out into the world

It can filter particles or remove airborne moisture. It can be shaped by hand, machined or 3D printed. And above all, it has a unique, adjustable porosity. Vlastimil Hotař and his team are developing an innovative glass-ceramic material. They want to move from the development lab to the global market. The snow-white Porous Glass Plasticine will be presented at the international glass trade fair GlassTec in Düsseldorf in September.

What is PGP and how can it be used?

Porous Glass Plasticine (PGP) is a glass-ceramic porous material. It has rheological properties that allow it to be free-formed by hand, automatically shaped or applied using 3D printing technologies, so-called extrusion or robocasting. Sintering produces a porous, snow-white product that is easy to machine. The pore size can be controlled by the temperature curve and the granulometry of the input material. It is a non-toxic and non-flammable material. The material can also be dyed in the mass, i.e. suitable raw materials can be added to the material to colour it in a targeted way, similar to the way it works with glass.

How was the material created?

The idea was born in the team. We developed PGP together with our colleagues Maria Stara, Veronika Máková and Barbora Holubová at the Technical University in Liberec. It is a typical example of a basic research idea. Our other project PURE produced the PGP material as one of the results. We have not yet presented it publicly or published it, but we have big plans and now it is time to take it further.

Why is the material unique? What is the reason?

Two key properties are its mouldability and subsequent porosity. This makes the material completely unique. And then, of course, the ease of production, the quality of the result and the high added value, both utilitarian, financial and aesthetic.

Where do you want to go with PGP?

We anticipate that PGP material can be easily commercialised in various areas of industry or for artistic creation, for example. Our goal is to present the material publicly and find suitable partners for its specific applications. We want to target at least the European market. Glass production is a fairly narrow production profile and it is necessary to have a global orientation.

What applications does PGP enable?

The material can be used for microparticle filters, nanoparticle carriers, thermal and acoustic insulation with aesthetic value, air moisture removal or fluid absorbers. As I have already mentioned, it is suitable for manual and machine shaping of objects. It can be suitable for the production of lampshades and lamps, as it allows diffuse light scattering. Another practical application may be the manufacture of diffusers, as PGP can release a substance slowly into space. Here applications such as "scented jewellery" are offered. With a bit of exaggeration, we say that we give glass another meaning... The applications are still open and it is possible to come up with specific know-how.

Is there competition on the market?

PGP has no direct competition. Similar structures can be achieved by sintering SiO2 with a laser, but these products are very expensive. There are, for example, filters that are often only flat and are created by sintering glass. Their cost is also quite high. There are, of course, other processes that make it possible to obtain micropores and mesopores. A very well-known technique is that of sintering a glass substance with a leachable material and then leaching it to form pores in the substance.

How is PGP significantly different?

Our PGP material has a different character. During sintering, gases are released, the material is more similar in structure to foam glass, which is produced in large quantities, but has closed pores and so does not have the controlled pore size and formation of the desired shapes. The PGP material is therefore situated between two existing products. On the one hand, it is a very expensive material with a relatively precise distribution of small pores. On the other hand is a relatively inexpensive randomly strained glass with large pores and a wide size distribution of mainly closed pores. We have not found an identical product with given rheological properties for technical and manual processing.

Which of the possible applications will you develop the most, what will you focus on?

We are engineers, so we want to develop technical applications that have commercial industrial potential, such as microparticle filters, nanoparticle carriers, acoustic and light panels. There may be other novel solutions that we don't even know about yet. What matters are the ideas and their rapid validation in practice.

Will you also cooperate with companies from the Czech Republic?

I see the potential of the Crystal Valley and we want to convince local glass companies that we are giving them a future. PGP enables a wide range of applications and that is where I see the main potential for success. Every beginning has an open end, there are opportunities and threats. We know what we want, we know the path and we are ready. To diversify the risk of failure, it will be useful to work on multiple applications at the same time.
What is the situation in the current market you want to enter?
The markets are very open and we expect them to grow. PGP is targeting completely new, significantly innovative products with high added

What is the situation in the current market you want to enter?

We can expect the markets to be very open and we expect them to grow. PGP is targeting completely new, significantly innovative products with high added value. We will be presenting the material at the international glass trade fair GlassTec in Düsseldorf in September and we have high expectations. We are looking for a strategic partner and are ready to respond flexibly. I believe that Porous Glass Plasticine will be a respected innovation in the glass industry and its applications will be known worldwide.