Sintered Glassware

Sintered glass is finely porous glass through which gas or liquid may pass. It is made by sintering together glass particles into a solid but porous body. This porous glass body can be called a frit. Applications in laboratory glassware include use in sintered glass filter items, scrubbers, or spargers. Other laboratory applications of sintered glass include packing in chromatography columns and resin beds for special chemical synthesis.

In a sintered glass filter, a disc or pane of sintered glass is used to filter out solid particles, precipitate, or residue from a fluid, similar to a piece of filter paper. The fluid can go through the pores in the sintered glass, but the frit will often stop a solid from going through. A sintered filter is often part of a glassware item, so sintered glass funnels and sintered glass crucibles are available.