A Better Understanding Of Ceramics

Ceramic items are a crucial part of everyday life

. In the kitchen, it is likely that your coffee mugs, plates, bowls, canisters, and other dishware are created from ceramics. The ceramic items in your bathroom probably range from a toothbrush holder to a soap dish. This begs the question: just what are ceramics, exactly?

If youve ever in your life taken a course in ancient history or archaeology, then you already know that ceramics are almost as ancient as human civilization. The word ceramic-which means of pottery in Greek-indicates some kind of nonmetallic, inorganic solid that was made by means of heat rapidly followed by cooling. The earliest ceramics from ca. 25,000 BC are some figures which were produced mostly from clay that was hardened in fire. Thousands of years later, ceramics began to be glazed and then fired in order to create the nonporous, smooth surfaces which we drink and eat off of today.

Today, technical ceramics can be found almost everywhere. Not only does the ceramic industry manufacture day-to-day items such as plates and soap dishes, but they also produce remarkably advanced products such as semiconductors. The engineering of ceramics is a highly specialized branch of the ceramics industry. One superb example of the science of ceramics is the shielding equipped on NASA's space shuttles that keeps them from combusting once they re-enter Earth's atmosphere.

Technical ceramics created from zirconium dioxide are responsible for impressive knives that can hold an edge far longer than steel ones. Other technical ceramics, comprised of boron carbide or silicon carbide, are quite strong and lightweight. They can be found both in bulletproof vests designed to block large-caliber rifle rounds and as armor in the cockpits of specific military aircraft.

The production of ceramics has been very helpful to technologies of the last 30 years. When compared with steel bearings, ceramic ball bearings built from silicon nitride have triple the life span. Due to its greater hardness, ceramics allow for less deformation under higher strain. Additionally, it is more chemically resistant, won't corrode, and is far more heat-resistant than its steel alternative. The primary issue with ceramic ball bearings is the more expensive cost as opposed to less expensive stainless steel.

Even so, ceramic machining might result in more fuel-efficient vehicles. In the 1980s, Toyota experimented with ceramic internal-combustion engines. These could run in excess of 6000 degrees Fahrenheit, wouldn't have to have a cooling system, and would be extremely efficient, yet they were not technologically possible in the 1980s.

More recent innovations in technical ceramics have taken place within the medical field. Ceramics have been employed to synthesize hydroxyapatite, which is the fundamental mineral component of human bone. Trials with implantation have revealed no attempt by the human body to reject these orthopedic implants. Sadly, these ceramics are not yet dense enough to work on their own. Therefore they're most typically used as coatings on metal orthopedic implants, or as bone fillers. In spite of this, scientists are working hard to create strong nano-crystalline hydroxyapatite ceramic materials dense enough to withstand the pressures that human teeth and bones are subjected to.

Thus, sooner than you think, you might be using ceramic bones or teeth as frequently as you drink out of ceramic coffee mugs or eat off of ceramic plates.

by: Gary Mandela

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