Photocentric Awarded Innovate UK Grant to Lead Pioneering Silicon Carbide Project

Inventors of LCD 3D printing Photocentric will lead an Innovate UK-funded project. The project will utilise additive manufacturing for the creation of industrial-scale production, high-quality Silicon Carbide parts, which traditionally is a very challenging material to work with.

For the UK to be carbon neutral by 2050, we need bold, game-changing innovations to be applied to our most energy-consuming industries. This project will do just that by enabling the wider use of ceramics and thus enabling their energy-saving properties to be used in the industries that use most of them.

This project will enable the creation of industrial-scale production, high-quality Silicon Carbide parts, one of the most challenging materials to manufacture at a price that enables their widespread adoption within the Foundation Industries. Silicon Carbide is extremely hard, heat resistant (melts at 2730°C), abrasion and chemical resistant, and thermally conductive. These exceptional properties make Silicon Carbide ideal for a wide variety of applications. However, it’s extremely difficult to manufacture because it is also very hard.

This project will combine British inventions to create dense Silicon Carbide parts by an innovative additive manufacturing method using visible light selectively passing through LCD screen-based printers to make parts that will be subsequently infiltrated with silicon to bond with residual carbon to densify the parts to become usable dense Silicon Carbide parts.

Furthermore, it will place the UK at the forefront of using novel materials that provide energy-saving benefits, create more jobs and provide technological benefits over imported products.

The project is led by Photocentric, with MTC as a technical partner, Kanthal as an industrial user and the Cast Metals Federation and Glass Futures as organisations that will enable its transfer through their members.

Follow Photocentric on LinkedIn and Twitter to stay updated on how the project progresses.

To learn more about Photocentric and how its LCD 3D printing technology can benefit your business, visit www.photocentricgroup.com, or contact the team using the details listed below. Alternatively, click here to read more news from Photocentric.

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