Molded body made of opaque quartz glass and method for producing same

A method for producing a molded body made of opaque quartz glass, comprising:

• (a) providing SiO2 grains obtained by comminuting quartz glass having a purity of at least 99.9 wt % SiO2,
• (b) forming a slurry which contains a suspension liquid and the SiO2 grains and which has a total solids content,
• (c) wet grinding the SiO2 grains in the slurry so as to form ground SiO2 grain particles,
• (d) forming a porous green body from the slurry comprising a process step in which the slurry is poured into a dewatering mold, and
• (e) sintering the porous green body so as to form the molded body of opaque quartz glass,
• wherein the wet grinding of the SiO2 grains according to (c) takes place, at least part of the time or during the entire step of wet grinding, in the presence of SiO2 nanoparticles, the proportion of which in the total solids content of the slurry is in the range of 0.1 wt % to 10 wt %, and in that the slurry has a solids content in the range of 76 to 79.5 wt % after addition of the SiO2 nanoparticles and after the wet grinding, and wherein at least a portion of the SiO2 nanoparticles of the slurry are added in colloidal form into a dispersion with a specific surface area (BET) of at least 20 m2/g, and wherein the molded body has a homogeneity defined by a difference in density between a maximum density and a minimum density of less than 0.026 g/cm3.