CERAMICS
• The term ceramics represents both man-made and manufactured
non-metallic inorganic solid material.
• Ceramics are classified as inorganic and non-metallic materials that
are essential to our daily lifestyle.
• Chemically speaking, Ceramics are an inorganic, non-metallic solid
materials made up of oxides, bromides, silicates and carbides for
which the inter-atomic bonds are either totally ionic or
predominantly ionic having some covalent character
• Ceramics are a part of our daily lives without realizing it. We are
surrounded by them from domestic and industrial building products,
tableware, and art all the way up to medical devices and microchips.
• This category of material includes things like tile, bricks, plates,
glass and toilets.
Properties
• The properties of ceramic materials like all materials are dictated
by the types of atoms present, the type of bonding between the
atoms and the way the atoms are packed together
• This is known as the atomic scale structure.
• Most ceramics are made up of two or more elements.
• Depending on their method of formation, ceramics can be dense
or lightweight.
• Typically, they will demonstrate excellent strength and hardness
properties; however, they are often brittle in nature.
• Ceramics can also be formed to serve as electrically conductive
material or objects allowing electricity to pass through their mass, or
insulators, materials preventing the flow of electricity.
• Some ceramics, like superconductors also display magnetic
properties.
• The atoms in ceramic materials are held together by a chemical
bond namely, ionic and covalent bonds.
• For metals, the chemical bond is called the metallic bond.
• The bonding of atoms together is much stronger in covalent and
ionic bonding than in metallic.
• That is why, generally speaking, Metals are “ductile” and Ceramics
are “brittle”.
• Due to ceramic materials wide range of properties, they are used
for multitude of applications.
In general, most of the Ceramic are-
▫ Hard, dense and strong
▫ Wear-resistant
▫ Higher stability and higher melting points due to presence of ionic
bond.
▫ Brittle
▫ Refractory
▫ Thermal insulators
▫ Electrical insulators
▫ Non-magnetic
▫ Oxidation resistant
▫ Prone to thermal shock, and
▫ Chemically stable
▫ They also withstand chemical erosion and high temperatures.
Industrial Ceramics
• Industrial ceramics are commonly understood to be all industrially
used materials that are inorganic, non-metallic solids.
• Usually they are metal oxides (compounds of metallic element and
oxygen), but many ceramics (specially advanced ceramics) are
compounds of metallic elements and carbon, nitrogen or Sulphur.
• In atomic structure they are most often crystalline, although they
may also contain a combination of glassy and crystalline phases.
• These structures and chemical ingredients, though various, result
in universally recognized ceramic like properties of enduring utility,
including the following:
i) Mechanical strength in spite of brittleness.
ii) Chemical durability against the deteriorating effects of
oxygen, water, acids, bases, salts, and organic solvents;
iii) Hardness, contributing to resistance against wear;
iv) Thermal and electrical conductivity considerably lower than
that of metals; and an ability to take a decorative finish.
Uses of Ceramic
Ceramics can be found in products like
watches (quartz tuning forks-the time keeping devices in
watches),
snow skies (piezoelectric-ceramics that stress when a
voltage is applied to them),
automobiles (sparkplugs and ceramic engine parts found
in racecars),
phone lines,
space shuttles,
appliances (enamel coatings), airplanes (nose cones).
Advanced ceramics can also be found in the
medical,
electrical, and
electronics industries
They were initially used to craft pottery objects like pots, and
other hollow utensils.
We are surrounded by them from
domestic and
industrial building products,
tableware, and
art all the way up to
medical devices and
microchips
Ceramic products are hard, porous, and brittle.
As a result, they are used to make
pottery,
tiles,
cements,
glass.
Ceramics are also used at many places in gas turbine engines.
Bio-ceramics are used as dental implants and synthetic bones.
Uses of Porcelain
Porcelain find application in
spark plugs,
electrical insulators,
laboratory equipments,
crucibles,
dishes,
and high-class potteries.
Uses of Clay
Clay is the starting raw material for manufacturing
a) bricks,
b) tiles,
c) terracotta,
d) pottery,
e) Earthenwares
f) sewer
g) drain pipes,
h) and covers for electrical cables.
Uses of Stonewares
Stonewares are used for constructing
a. sanitary fixtures,
b. such as sinks and
c. bath tubs.
Stonewares are also used in the construction of
piping vessels,
drainage pipes,
underground cable sheathings,
sewerage pipes, home pipes,
absorption towers, valves,
and pumps in the chemical industry.
They are cheaper than many other construction materials but
are rather fragile and once broken, they have no resale value.
Uses of Glass
The main use of glass is to make
household glassware,
decorative items, and
optical lenses.
Glasses are used for heat insulation purposes, for example, in
ovens.
Glass is used as an insulator in
metal pipelines,
in vacuum cleaners, and
on the walls and roofs of houses.
Glass is resistant to chemicals.
As a result, it is used to filter corrosive liquids such as acids and
acid solutions.
It is also used for sound insulation.
Safety glass is used in aircraft, automobiles, helicopter, and
submarines.
Classification on basis of its properties
The very existence of ceramics material having wide range of
properties is due to the reason that many combination of
metallic and non metallic atoms , having a number of of
different structural arrangements are possible.
thus ceramics are classified into these major classes:
1. Clay Products
2. Refractories
3. Electrical Ceramics
4. Magnetic Ceramics
5. Abrasive Ceramics
1: Clay Products
These contains silica ,alumina and oxide of
sodium ,calcium ,magnesium and iron.
Many common ceramics such as bricks and tiles are based
primarily on clay.
These are pressed or extruded into shape while in a wet plastic
state and then dried and fired.
Higher density clay products exhibit better mechanical
properties but at the same time have worse insulating
properties(ability to conduct heat).
Increased vitrification(transformation of a substance into a
glass that is to say, a non-crystalline amorphous solid) leads to
higher densities and is achieved through finer original particle
size and increased firing temperature.
These are used in many ceramics product as these are present
in plenty.
2: Refractories
Because of their high heat resistance, ceramic materials are
used as refractories.
These can retain there shape and size even on strong heating
These don’t react chemically with slag or molten charge thus
used in coating of furnace, crucible.
Refractory ceramics are insulating materials and are designed
to withstand high stresses and temperatures and must also
resist the effects of molten metals, abrasive particles and hot
gases.
Ceramics made of pure oxides are quite often the best
refractories, however, these are expensive and therefore
mixtures of ceramic compounds are often used.
3: Electrical Ceramics
Ceramics can display a variety of useful electrical and magnetic
properties.
Some ceramics are good conductors such as graphite while
some have high resistivity such as SiC which is used in heating
elements.
Unlike in metals, the conductivity of ceramics increases as
temperature increases. This is because conduction is based on
the movement of anions and cations. Mobility of the ions is
only possible when there is enough thermal heating to supply
sufficient energy.
4: Magnetic Ceramics
Magnetic ceramics are divided into two categories – traditional
low conductivity magnets and superconducting magnets.
Low conductivity magnets are used in applications where the
magnet is required to have some electrical insulating
properties, such as in transformers.
Superconducting magnets are a special class of ceramics that
are able to conduct electricity with no resistance and therefore
no energy loss.
This special property is limited, however, as it is only possible
below a critical magnetic field and a critical temperature, TC,
which is always very cold.
5: Abrasive Ceramics
Abrasive ceramics are used to grind or cut away other
softer material.
Primarily, when considering the design of a abrasive
material it is hardness and wear resistance that are of the
most importance.
Toughness is also considered as a necessary
requirement so that the abrasive material does not shatter
during grinding.
Abrasives can be either natural or synthetic. Common
examples include diamond, silicon carbide SiC, tungsten
carbide WC, or normal silica sand.
Abrasives may generally be either bonded to grinding
wheels, coated on paper, or exist as loose grains
Glasses
Glass, an inorganic solid material that is usually
transparent or translucent as well as hard and brittle.
These are amorphous solids i.e. not true solids can be
understood as supercooled liquid with infinite viscosity, it
does not have high melting point.
Contain magnesium or lithium ions
They are hard and have high impact strength
These are used in crockery, chemical apparatus ,lenses,
blub etc.
Classification on basis of use
There are three main types of pottery/ceramic. These are
Earthenware,
Stoneware
Porcelain.
Earthenware
Earthenware is clay fired at relatively low temperatures of
between 1,000 to 1,150 degrees.
This results in a hardened but brittle material which is slightly
porous (small holes through which liquid or air can go through),
therefore can not be used to contain water.
To remedy this, a glaze is used to cover the object before it is
fired in the kiln for a second time and rendered waterproof.
Stoneware
Stoneware is made from a particular clay which is fired at a
higher temperature of 1,200°C. This results in a more durable
material, with a denser, stone-like quality.
The finished product will be waterproof and unlike
earthenware, does not need to be glazed.
Porcelain
Porcelain comes from a refined clay which is fired at very high
temperatures of approximately 1,200–1,450°C.
The result is an extremely hard, shiny material often white and
translucent in appearance.
The earliest forms of porcelain originated in China around
1600BC and this association popularised the term 'fine china’,
or bone china when the porcelain has had ground animal bone
added to the clay, in order to create an even more durable
material.
These doesn’t react with chemical even at high temperature
thus use for lining of furnace.
Submitted by-
ROSHAN KUMAR DAS
1905025
[Link], 2 nd Sem
NIT Patna
