Glass That’s Handled Like a Polymer
For all its superb optical properties, fused silica glass is too brittle to withstand the computer-controlled machining processes used in today’s industries. Now, researchers at a German university have developed a nanocomposite material of mixed glass and polymer particles that can be shaped with polymer-molding techniques, then heat-treated to change into optical-grade glass (Adv. Mater., doi:10.1002/adma.201707100). […]