Embedded Silver Conductive Glass for Environmental Resistance
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing electrically conductive glass articles face challenges with environmental degradation, high manufacturing costs, and aesthetic concerns due to the use of metallic conductors on exterior surfaces, and the processes for embedding conductors within glass substrates are expensive and can introduce defects, limiting design flexibility.
Innovation Solution
The development of electrically conductive glass articles with discrete layers of metallic silver embedded within a monolithic glass body, where each layer has a thickness of 0.1 μm to 0.5 μm and an electrical resistivity of 50 nΩ·m to 2000 nΩ·m, spaced apart from the surface by 0.1 μm to 20 μm, allowing for enhanced durability and design flexibility while maintaining aesthetic appeal.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If metallic conductors are placed on the exterior surface of glass articles, then manufacturing cost is reduced and electrical conductivity is achieved, but environmental degradation occurs and aesthetic appeal is compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The patent embeds metallic conductor layers within the glass substrate itself, nesting the conductor inside the glass matrix rather than placing it on the exterior surface. This nested configuration protects the conductor from environmental exposure while maintaining electrical functionality, resolving the contradiction between low-cost exterior conductors and environmentally resistant embedded conductors.
Solution Approach 2:
The glass substrate acts as an intermediary medium that encapsulates the metallic conductor layers. This intermediary glass matrix provides environmental protection to the conductor while allowing electrical signals to pass through, thereby mediating between the need for low-cost conductors and the need for environmental resistance.
2Ease of manufacture
If metallic conductors are placed on the exterior surface of glass articles, then manufacturing cost is reduced, but aesthetic appeal is compromised due to visible height discontinuities
Solution Approach 1:
By nesting the metallic conductor layers within the glass substrate during the glass forming process, the conductors become invisible from the exterior surfaces. This eliminates the visible height discontinuities that plague exterior conductors while maintaining the same low-cost metallic materials, thus preserving aesthetic appeal without sacrificing manufacturing economy.
3Reliability
If conductors are sandwiched between glass substrates, then environmental resistance is improved, but manufacturing cost increases and defects are introduced
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the conductor formation step with the glass substrate formation step by incorporating metallic powders or organic conductive materials directly into the glass melt during melting or forming. This combined process eliminates the need for separate sandwiching and sealing operations, reducing manufacturing complexity and cost while maintaining the environmental protection benefits of embedded conductors.
Solution Approach 2:
The conductor layers are preliminarily incorporated into the glass substrate during the glass melting or forming process, before the final article is completed. This preliminary incorporation ensures the conductors are already protected within the glass matrix, eliminating the need for subsequent expensive sealing operations to achieve environmental resistance.
4Reliability
If conductors are sandwiched between glass substrates, then environmental resistance is improved, but manufacturing complexity increases due to critical sealing steps
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines the conductor embedding and glass forming operations into a single integrated process step. By incorporating metallic materials directly into the glass melt or forming the glass around the conductors during shaping, the patent eliminates the need for separate, critical sealing steps required by sandwich construction methods, thereby reducing process complexity while maintaining environmental protection.
5Reliability
If conventional high temperature pressing and sintering are used to seal conductors, then conductor embedding is achieved, but design flexibility is limited to flat rectangular shapes
Solution Approach 1:
The conductors are preliminarily incorporated into the glass material before final shaping operations. By including metallic powders or conductive organic materials in the glass composition prior to forming, the conductors are automatically positioned within the glass matrix regardless of the final article shape, enabling complex three-dimensional geometries without requiring subsequent high-temperature sealing operations that would constrain design flexibility.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the processing parameters from high-temperature pressing and sintering required for sealing to lower-temperature glass forming processes where conductors are incorporated into the melt. This parameter change allows the glass and conductor to be formed simultaneously in complex shapes using techniques like blow molding or drawing, greatly expanding design flexibility beyond flat rectangular forms.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This solution provides robust, cost-effective, and aesthetically pleasing electrically conductive glass articles with improved environmental resistance and flexibility in design, as the embedded metallic silver layers are protected from environmental exposure, maintaining consistent resistivity and preventing damage.
Implementation Method 1
an electrically conducting element formed in the body. The element includes a discrete layer, or a plurality of discrete layers, of metallic silver
Implementation Method 2
exchanging sodium ions in the glass body for silver ions; and forming the silver ions in the glass body into an electrically conducting element within the body
Data Source
AI summary
An electrically conductive article that includes a monolithic glass body having a first primary surface; and an electrically conducting element formed in the body. The element includes a discrete layer, or a plurality of discrete layers, of metallic silver. Each layer has a thickness T such that 0.1 μm≤T≤0.5 μm and an electrical resistivity of about 50 nΩ·m to about 2000 nΩ·m. In addition, the element is spaced apart from the first primary surface by a distance D, wherein 0.1 μm≤D≤20 μm. In some aspects, the electrically conducting element and/or the monolithic glass body are configured as an antenna assembly, an optical fiber or a flexible glass substrate.