Ceramic Materials
“A ceramic is an inorganic non-metallic solid made up of clay that have been shaped and then hardened by heating to high temperatures.”
In general, ceramics are hard, corrosion-resistant and brittle. Ceramic comes from the Greek word meaning ‘pottery’. The clay-based domestic wares, art objects and building products are familiar to all of us, but pottery is just one part of the ceramic world. Nowadays, the term ‘ceramic’ has a more expansive meaning and includes materials like glass, advanced ceramics and some cement systems as well.
For Example
- Plates
- Tiles
- Toilets
- Cement
Nano-ceramics
“Nano-ceramics are ultrafine particles composed of ceramics with particular size less than 100nm.”
These were first discovered in the early 1980s and are primarily made up of highly pure well-chosen oxides, carbides, carbonates, and phosphates of metals and metalloids, such as calcium, titanium, silicon etc. The synthesis involves successive heating and cooling processes through a well-known procedure called sol-gel under high pressure and temperature to achieve the required size. Physically, they are harder and more rigid than macro-ceramics and have comparatively high heat resistance.
For Example
- Silica(Sio2)
- Titania(Tio2)
- Alumina(Al2o3)
- Iron oxide(Fe3o4, Fe2o3)
- Zinc oxide(Zno)