Effective mixing of specialist glass powders with a high viscosity acrylic resin
June 02, 2023｜Topic
Dr. Philip Frampton
James Kent Ltd
England, United Kingdom
Product in use: ARE-250CE*
Encounter with the ARE-250CE
James Kent (Ceramic Materials) Ltd had relied for many years on a manual mixing system for their research and quality control of specialist glass powders, but embarked on a search for a process solution that would be more effective, more consistent, quicker and simpler.
The glass powders produced by James Kent Ltd are tailored to customer need ‒ primarily for dental fillers and restorers, they vary from 0.5 to 10 microns average particle size. For testing purposes, the glass powder needs to be mixed with a high viscosity acrylic resin monomer to check for high transparency and low discolouration ‒ but the manual process, while well understood, continued to give problems of non-homogeneity and air inclusion, both of which preclude colour checking of the glass.
The search for an improved system led Dr. Philip Frampton to the Thinky ARE-250CE, which incorporates both planetary mixing and centrifugal degassing in one unit.
How ARE-250CE improved the mixing process
Tests with the Thinky equipment involved mixing 60% glass with 40% acrylic by weight in viscosities varying from “thick honey to stiff bubble gum,” according to Dr. Frampton.
Empirical investigation supported by our advice rapidly determined suitable program parameters based on viscosity. These samples were then pressed and cured into standard £ 2 coin-sized discs for comparison with established colour standards.
Comments from Dr. Frampton
“James Kent are one of probably only 4 or 5 companies in the world operating at the top level in this technology and we were looking to improve the mixing stage as a first step to overall improvement of our glass grinding process.
Intertronics expertise and supply of the Thinky mixer has allowed us to achieve that initial goal in a single operation.
Now that we have a reliable quality control process, we can move to purchase of a spectro-photometer. This will enable us to refine our operation further toward development of an even cleaner and finer grinding process.”
The mixing of glass and ceramic powders into resins is a perfect job for a Thinky mixer!
* Intertronics is Thinky’s distributor in U.K.
http://www.intertronics.co.uk/
※ Equivalent to ARE-310
About ARE-250CE
The centrifugal force of over 400G enables simultaneous processing of mixing, dispersion, and deaeration of various materials from low to high viscosities for general purposes. Furnished with a deaeration mode that enables high-precision deaeration, this model shows excellent performance in deaeration of high-viscosity adhesives and materials whose viscosities are increased by added fillers. A wide variety of materials and uses are supported by using adapters for various containers. It is employed for production or research and development where small amounts of materials are prepared.
・230V ready
・The 2 modes of mixing and deaeration achieve dispersion and deaeration of high-viscosity materials in a small amount of time
・Cold-insulated, heat-resistant adapter enables support of various material characteristics
・Wide variety of adapters for using various containers
・Memory and step-operation functions for controlling and executing operating conditions
・CE certified model is available
