Korean Journal of Materials Research ISSN:1225-0562(Print) 2287-7258(Online) 한국재료학회지

There are various manufacturing processes for pure SiO₂ that is used as abrasives, chemicals, filters, and glasses, and in metallurgy and optical industries. In the optical fiber industry, to produce SiO₂ preform, SiCl₄ is utilized as a raw material. However, the combustion reaction of SiCl₄ has caused critical environmental issues, such as ozone deficiency by chlorine compounds, the greenhouse effect by carbon dioxide and corrosive gas such as hydrochloric acid. Thus, finding an alternative source that does not have those environmental issues is important for the future. Octamethylcyclotetrasiloxane (OMCTS or D4) as a chlorine free source is recently promising candidate for the SiO₂ preform formation. In this study, we first conducted a vaporizer design to vaporize the OMCTS. The vaporizer for the OMCTS vaporization was produced on the basis of the results of the vaporizer design. The size of the primary particle of the SiO₂ formed by OMCTS was less than 100 nm. X-ray diffraction patterns of the SiO₂ indicated an amorphous phase. Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy analysis revealed the Si-O-Si bond without the -OH group.