|  | Public Health Safety | Public Health

Ceramic Alloy Materials

Ceramic materials are inorganic, non-metallic solids. They may be crystalline or amorphous in nature, and are prepared by giving appropriate heating and cooling treatment to these materials. Chemically, ceramic materials can be defined as inorganic oxides or non-oxides. They are composed of particulate materials that are crystalline in nature. The most commonly seen ceramic materials are pottery and bricks. Although ceramics are made from clay, they are now found in many applications in engineering, the semiconductor industry, tooling, ballistics, gas turbine engines, watches, dental implants, synthetic bones, and space equipment.

  1. Ceramics Oxides

    • Ceramics oxides (i.e., alumina or zirconia) are resistant to oxidation. They do not react chemically, thus they are good electrical and thermal insulators. Oxide ceramics are required to be extremely pure, so the manufacturing process must be very elaborate and complex to ensure that no impurities that can significantly alter the properties of these ceramics are left behind. Further, heat treatments for these ceramic materials are attuned to give them a specific crystal structure.

    Non-oxide Ceramics

    • Non-oxide ceramics (i.e., carbides, borides, nitrides, or silicides) are typically more prone to oxidation. These compounds are very hard and chemically inert, so they have good thermal and electrical conductivity properties. Manufacturing of non-oxide ceramic materials is generally a three-step process, where the required non-oxides are prepared first, then mixed into a powdered material at certain proportions, and finally heated in a controlled oxygen-free environment.

    Composites

    • Composites are a combination of oxides and non-oxides that have been reinforced together using some particulate matter. They are generally tough and costly to manufacture. Their conductivity and oxidation resistance will vary on the exact composition. It is possible to prepare a wide variety of composite ceramics based on the different combination of oxides, non-oxides, and polymers (i.e., a chemical compound consisting essentially of repeating structural units). The toughness, hardness, and conductivity of composites can be adjusted according to their future applications.

    Ferrite Magnets

    • Ferrite magnets are inexpensive ceramic materials. They are very brittle and therefore should not be used in structural applications. Ferrite magnets have a relatively low thermal tolerance and begin to break down around 300 degrees Celsius. These are prepared using iron oxide and strontium or barium oxide, compressed together with some ceramic binder.

    BAM

    • BAM is a ceramic material that contains boron, aluminum, magnesium, and titanium boride. It is one of the hardest and smoothest known ceramic materials. It finds application in all places that require hard materials that are wear-resistant and need frictionless environments, such as coatings on moving parts of equipment and machines.

Public Health - Related Articles