Machining of Single-Crystal Sapphire with Polysaccharide-Bonded Abrasive Tool

A novel polysaccharide-bonded abrasive tool is proposed for the green machining of single-crystal sapphires.The prescription and manufacturing process of the proposed tool is designed, and the gelation property of polysaccharide by microwave treatment is investigated. Abrasive tool samples are fabricated,and a machining experiment on a single-crystal sapphire is performed. It is found that the crystallinity of polysaccharide gel decreases as the proportion of cross-linked polysaccharide increases. Abrasive tool samples with cross-linked polysaccharide present higher surface hardness. With the new abrasive tool,the surface quality of sapphire wafer can be significantly improved. This new tool with an abrasive to binder ratio of 2∶1 attains a material removal rate of 0.68 μm/min. It is found that increasing the abrasive to binder ratio leads to better self-dressing performance but worse material removal ability and greater loss of abrasive tool materials. The validity of polysaccharide as an abrasive tool binde