“Inorganic and nonmetallic materials that are fundamental to our daily lives” is how ceramics are categorized. The people who design the methods by which these items can be produced, develop new kinds of ceramic products, and discover new applications for ceramic products in daily life are known as ceramic and materials engineers. Ceramics are present everywhere.
Following are the types of ceramics:
a) Tile
b) bricks
c) Plates
d) glass, and
e) toilets
Uses of Ceramics
Ceramics can be found in products like:
- Quartz tuning forks, which are used in timepieces to keep time,
- Snow skies, which are made of piezoelectric ceramics that undergo stress when electricity is applied,
- Vehicles (racecars’ ceramic engine parts and sparkplugs)
- telephone lines.
- Spacecraft and appliances with enamel finishes
- The nose cones of airplanes.
Properties of Ceramics
Ceramics can be light or dense, depending on how they are made. They will usually show great hardness and strength characteristics; however, they are frequently brittle by nature.
Ceramics can also be made to function as insulators, which stop the passage of electricity, or as electrically conductive materials, which enable electricity to pass through their bulk. Certain ceramics have magnetic properties as well, such as superconductors.
Preparation of Ceramics
Ceramics are generally made by taking mixtures of
Clay,
Earthen element
Powders
water
Shaping them into desired forms.
The ceramic is baked in a kiln, which is a high-temperature oven after it has been molded. Glazes are ornamental, weatherproof paint-like materials that are frequently applied to ceramic surfaces.
Ceramic History
Human-made ceramics that archaeologists have discovered date to at least 24,000 BC.
These ceramics, found in Czechoslovakia, were made into slabs, balls, and figurines of people and animals.
Animal fat and bone were combined with bone ash and a fine clay-like substance to make these ceramics. Following formation, the ceramics were burned in partially excavated horseshoe-shaped and domed kilns with loess walls at temperatures ranging from 500 to 800°C.
Although the purpose of this pottery is unknown, it is not believed to have been utilitarian.
It is estimated that practical ceramic jars were first used in approximately 9,000 BC.
Grain and other foods were probably held and stored in these jars.
It is believed that the production of glass in antiquity was intimately linked to the thriving ceramic industry in Upper Egypt circa 8,000 BC.
A colorful glaze on the ceramic pot may have occurred from overheating the pottery kiln and the presence of sand containing calcium oxide (CaO) during the firing process.
According to experts, glass was not made separately from ceramics and fashioned into distinct objects until 1,500 BC.
The use of ceramics, especially glass, in technologies and applications has grown gradually since these early times. We frequently undervalue the significant contribution ceramics have made to human advancement.
Ceramic Processing
Commercial goods that vary greatly in size, form, intricacy, complexity, material composition, structure, and cost are produced by ceramic processing.
As ceramic materials are developed, refined, and characterized more and more, the goal of ceramics processing as an applied science is inevitable.
In order to create a stiff product, heat is usually applied to processed clays and other natural raw materials to create ceramics.
Natural-occurring rocks and minerals used as the raw material for ceramic products require specific processing to maintain homogeneity, cleanliness, and control over particle size and distribution.
The ultimate qualities of the completed ceramic are significantly influenced by these characteristics. Certain ceramic products can also be started with chemically produced powders.
It is possible to manipulate these artificial materials to create powders with exact chemical compositions and particle sizes.
Forming the ceramic particles into the required shape is the next stage. This is achieved by adding water and/or additives, like binders, and then shaping the mixture into the desired shape. For ceramics, extrusion, slip casting, pressing, tape casting, and injection molding are a few of the most popular forming techniques.
These “green” ceramics are heat-treated (also known as fire or sintering) to create a stiff, final product once the particles are produced. After that, a glazing procedure may be applied to some ceramic items, including tile, dinnerware, and electrical insulators. For sophisticated applications, certain ceramics might go through a machining and/or polishing process to satisfy particular engineering design requirements.
Ceramic Properties
Like all materials, ceramic materials have certain qualities that are determined by the kinds of atoms that are present, the sorts of bonds that exist between the atoms, and the arrangement of the atoms. The term “atomic scale structure” refers to this.
The majority of ceramics consist of two or more components. We refer to this as a compound. For instance, the chemical alumina (Al2O3) is composed of oxygen and aluminum atoms.
Chemical bonds hold the atoms of ceramic materials together. Ionic and covalent connections are the two most prevalent types of chemical bonds in ceramic materials. The metallic bond is the name given to the chemical bond in metals. In comparison to metallic bonding, covalent and ionic bonding involve far stronger atom-to-atom connections. For this reason, metals are often ductile, while ceramics are brittle. Ceramic materials are employed in a wide range of applications because of their diverse range of qualities.
Hard, wear-resistant, brittle, refractory, thermal insulators, electrical insulators, nonmagnetic, resistant to oxidation, susceptible to thermal shock, and chemically stable are the general characteristics of most ceramic materials.