High-purity amorphous silica

Hovedmålet er å utvikle et nytt amorft silikaprodukt av høy renhet (a-SiO2) hvor det total urenhetsnivået er lavere enn 3 ppm og gir ikke mer enn 30% kostnadsøkning i forhold til dagens beste tilgjengelige naturkvartsprodukt på markedet. I løpet av prosjektet har vi utviklet teknikker for å produsere og måle et nytt silikamateriale. Hovedfokuset i prosjektet har vært lab-skala-demonstrasjoner av en mulig fullprosess som vil gi silikapartikler som er egnet for bruk i en tradisjonell smelteprosess. Dette har blitt evaluert med 'in-application testing', ved å teste materialet i form av sluttproduktet, også i lab-skala.

The project has made an important contribution to the industry partner through network and capability development, while the specific skills and methods developed by the research partner are expected to be used by them in future projects. Furthermore, if the project reaches full commercialisation then it will bring employment opportunities in the Northern Norway area and could facilitate lower cost semiconductor articles for the greater society. Additionally, the research is likley to be used to positively impact the industry partner's environmental footprint.

This project aims to develop a new high-purity amorphous silica product that upon melting forms high-tech glass for use in optical fibres, solar cell production, and production of integrated circuits. The new high-purity material will be offered to the current market gap between high purity silica and high purity quartz products, both in terms of level of impurity and pricing. The new material will reach a total impurity level of less than 3 ppm and add no more than 30% cost premium to the currently best available natural quartz product in the market. Aqueous H2SiF6 from current waste in the Quartz Corp's (TQC) existing plant at Drag (Nordland) will be used as raw material. Thus, TQC and SINTEF will develop a new production process that enables value creation from waste. Proof-of-concept for some important steps has been demonstrated already by the applicants, which ensures a sound scientific basis for the project. Furthermore, the positive potential for value creation is documented. This proposal outlines the R&D activities that must be carried out in order to bring the process to the maturity level required for realisation.