Method of making silica glass honeycomb structure from silica soot extrusion

A process of preparing a glass honeycomb article comprising the steps of:

• a) providing an essentially homogeneous paste comprising a vitreous silicate powder, a binder, a lubricant, and a solvent, wherein said powder comprises particles of less than about 0.4 micron;
• b) extruding strands of said paste through a die to form an intermediary article;
• c) drying said intermediary article in order to remove residual solvent;
• d) debinding said intermediary article in order to generate a brown honeycomb article;
• and
• e) firing said brown honeycomb article to partial or complete sintering thereof,
• wherein said debinding step (d) is performed using a heating regime comprising:
• 20-200° C. @ 50° C./hr;
• 200-600° C. @ 20° C./hr;
• 600-900° C. @ 50° C./hr
• 900° C. for a six hour hold;
• 900-600° C. @ 500° C./hr cooling;
• and
• 600-20° C. @ cooling without power.

A process of preparing a glass honeycomb article comprising the steps of:

• a) providing an essentially homogeneous paste comprising a vitreous silicate powder, a binder, a lubricant, and a solvent, wherein said powder comprises particles of less than about 0.4 micron;
• b) extruding strands of said paste through a die to form an intermediary article;
• c) drying said intermediary article in order to remove residual solvent;
• d) debinding said intermediary article in order to generate a brown honeycomb article;
• and
• e) firing said brown honeycomb article to partial or complete sintering thereof,
• wherein said firing step (e) is performed using a heating regime comprising:
• i) loading said brown honeycomb article into a furnace and applying a vacuum at room temperature;
• ii) heating said furnace at about a 30° C./minute to about 1000° C.;
• iii) increasing the temperature of said furnace at about 10-15° C./minute rate to about 165° C.;
• iv) increasing the temperature of said furnace at about 2° C./minute to about 1760° C.;
• v) holding the temperature of said furnace at about 1760° C. for approximately 5-15 minutes;
• vi) backfilling said furnace with an inert gas;
• and
• vii) allowing said article to cool at the cooling rate of said furnace to room temperature.