Ceramic Type Characteristics

Metallic Oxides

Alumina
Abundant and easily fabricated.

Good strength and hardness.

Wear and Temperature

Resistant.

Good electrical insulators.

Low dielectric loss.

Beryllium Oxides
Exceptionally high thermal
conductivities (for ceramics) at
low to moderate temperatures.

Zirconia
Extreme inertness to most
metals.

Good toughness and strength.

Glass Ceramics

Glass-Ceramics
Low, medium or high thermal
expansion depending on
composition type.

Good electrical insulators.

Transparent

One can be machined with steel

tools.

Nitrides and Carbides

Silicon Nitrides
Resistant to high temperatures,
 to thermal stress and shock.

High strength and oxidation

resistant.

Good electrical insulators.

Boron Carbide
High hardness and low density.

Best abrasion resistance of any

ceramic.

Low strength at high

temperatures.

Silicon Carbides
Low electrical resistivity.

High strength and resistance to

chemical attack, high
temperature and thermal stress.

Tungsten Carbides
Used for tool tips.

Excellent hardness and

mechanical strength.

Good thermal conductivity.

Good wear and abrasion

resistance.

Glass

Glasses
Good resistance to thermal
Oxide (silica) shock.

Silicates Large range of special optical

characteristics.
Phosphates
 Borosilicates Transperent.

Low thermal expansion and high

dielectric strength.

Good chemical resistance.

Carbon and Graphite

Carbons and
Graphites Poor strength except when
produced as fibre.

Good electrical and thermal

conductivity

Creep resistant at high

temperatures in non-oxidizing
conditions.

Self-lubricating.

Good refractoriness and thermal

shock resistance.

Low density and chemically

inert.

Carbon/Carbon
Composites High strength and low
coefficient of thermal expansion
at temperatures above 2000C.

Excellent thermal shock

resistance.

Superior toughness, excellent

thermal and electrical
conductivity

Resistance to corrosion and

abrasion.

High cost.
 Porcelain

Porcelain
Good chemical and thermal
resistance.

High density, strength,

resistivity and dielectric strength

Good thermal shock, wear and

hot strength.

Chemically inert.

Ceramic Fibers

Ceramic Fibers
Oxides spun to fiber and bulked
to felt.

Used for high temperature

insulation including former
applications of asbestos.

Glasses have three characteristics that make them more closely resemble "frozen liquids"
than crystalline solids. First, and foremost, there is no long-range order. Second, there are
numerous empty sites or vacancies. Finally, glasses don't contain planes of atoms.

The simplest way to understand the difference between a glass and a crystalline solid is to
look at the structure of glassy metals at the atomic scale. By rapidly condensing metal atoms
from the gas phase, or by rapidly quenching a molten metal, it is possible to produce glassy
metals that have the structure shown in the figure below

The amorphous structure of glass makes it brittle. Because glass doesn't contain planes of
atoms that can slip past each other, there is no way to relieve stress. Excessive stress
therefore forms a crack that starts at a point where there is a surface flaw. Particles on the
surface of the crack become separated. The stress that formed the crack is now borne by
particles that have fewer neighbors over which the stress can be distributed. As the crack
grows, the intensity of the stress at its tip increases. This allows more bonds to break, and
the crack widens until the glass breaks. Thus, if you want to cut a piece of glass, start by
scoring the glass with a file to produce a scratch along which it will break when stressed.

Glass has been made for at least 6000 years, since the Egyptians coated figurines made from
sand (SiO2) with sediment from the Nile river, heated these objects until the coating was
molten, and then let them cool. Calcium oxide or "lime" (CaO) and sodium oxide or "soda"
(Na2O) from the sediment flowed into the sand to form a glass on the surface of the figurines.
Trace amounts of copper oxide (CuO) in the sediment gave rise to a random distribution of
Cu2+ ions in the glass that produced a characteristic blue color.

Sand is still the most common ingredient from which glass is made. (More than 90% of the
sand consumed each year is used by the glass industry.) Sand consists of an irregular
network of silicon atoms held together by Si--O--Si bonds. If the network was perfectly
regular, each silicon atom would be surrounded by four oxygen atoms arranged toward the
corner of a tetrahedron. Because each oxygen atom in this network is shared by two silicon
atoms, the empirical formula of this solid would be SiO2 and the material would have the
structure of quartz. In sand, however, some of the Si--O--Si bridges are broken, in a random
fashion.

An accidental overheating of a glass furnace led to the discovery of materials known

as glass-ceramics. When the glass was overheated, small crystals formed in the
amorphous material that prevented cracks from propagating through the glass.

The first step toward glass-ceramics involves conventional techniques for preparing a
glass. The product is then heated to 750-1150C, until a portion of the structure is
transformed into a fine-grained crystalline material. Glass-ceramics are at least 50%
crystalline after they have been heated. In some cases, the final product is more than
95% crystalline.

Because glass-ceramics are more resistant to thermal shock, cookware made of this
material can be transferred directly from a hot stove burner to the refrigerator without
breaking. Because they are more crystalline glass-ceramics are also slightly better at
conducting heat than conventional glasses. Glass-ceramics are also stronger at high
temperatures than glasses. Thus, the glass-ceramic MgO - Al 2O3 - SiO2is used to make
electrical insulators that have to operate at high temperatures, such as spark plug
insulators. The properties and uses of some glasses and glass-ceramics are given in the
table below.

Properties and Uses of Some Glasses and Glass-Ceramics

Composition Property Use

Al2O3, MgO, CaO, SiO2
PbO, SiO2
B2O3, SiO2, Na2O
Glasses
Translucent, chemically
Window glass, bottles
resistant
High refractive index Lead crystal
Acid resistant, low
Pyrex
expansion on heating

MgO, Al2O3, SiO2
CaSiO3, CaMgSi2O6,
CaAl2Si2O8
Glass Ceramics
Insulator with high
mechanical strength at Spark plug insulators
high temperatures
Wear resistant Building materials
 Resistant to thermal Nose cones on
Li2Si2O5
shock rockets, cookware

Glass-ceramics are polycrystalline materials produced through controlled crystallization of base

glass. Glass-ceramic materials share many properties with both glasses andceramics. Glass-
ceramics have an amorphous phase and one or more crystalline phases and are produced by a so-
called "controlled crystallization" in contrast to a spontaneous crystallization, which is usually not
wanted in glass manufacturing. Glass-ceramics have the fabrication advantage of glass as well as
special properties of ceramics.

Uses of polyamides

Nylon- Apart from obvious uses in textiles for clothing and carpets, a lot of nylon is used
to make tyre cords - the inner structure of a vehicle tyre underneath the rubber.

The fibres are also used in ropes, and nylon can be cast into solid shapes for cogs and
bearings in machines, for example.

Kevlar- Kevlar is a very strong material - about five times as strong as steel, weight for
weight. It is used in bulletproof vests, in composites for boat construction, in lightweight
mountaineering ropes, and for lightweight skis and racquets - amongst many other
things.

Phenols are important raw materials and additives for industrial purposes in:

laboratory processes, chemical industry, chemical engineering processes, wood

processing, plastics processing
Thermosetting Plastics:
polyurethane

Apparel

Appliances, Automotive, Building and Construction, Composite Wood, Electronics,

Flooring, Furnishings, Marine, Medical, Packaging