Type 1 Pilot Action:
Treibacher Industrie AG – Effects of doping on Cerium-based polishing agents
Goal: Glass polishing agents based on Ce-oxide powder are doped with different additives in order to improve their performances. Is it possible, by means of Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and microanalysis, to recognize the different crystalline phases and their doping? This would be an advantage when designing new mixtures. The goal of this Pilot Action is to verify this.
Approach: SEM and microanalysis measurements were realized on different samples in order to evaluate if this microscopy technique is suitable to distinguish the different crystalline phases. A commercial reference sample with known parameters was characterized as starting point. Then the analysis has been carried out on polishing agent prepared by the user using different dopants and synthesis procedures.
Results: The morphology of the different crystalline phases in the two samples (reference and user-provided) was different. As an example, the main phase cerium-lanthanum mixed oxide in the reference sample was shaped into crystallites with size about 50-100 nm, while in the samples provided by the user is shaped in smaller crystallites (about 10 nm). In general, SEM analysis allowed for the identification of most of the different crystals present in the polishing powder. The measurement of dopant concentration was possible above a threshold value. SEM + microanalysis showed to be useful in the analysis of polishing powder prototypes.
Involved Partners: UNG