Chemical Properties

Ceramic materials are relatively inert, especially crystalline materials that tend to
have perfect structures with minimum amount of defects. Most of the reactivity of
these materials involves the surfaces where coordinatively unsaturated as well as
defect sites exist. The behavior of the surface toward other species and the nature of
interaction depend on the composition and the morphology, which determine the
nature and the degree of surface interactions with other substances. Most of the
time, interactions are limited to adsorption on the surface, which does not affect the
bulk making these materials good corrosion-resistant.

The possibility of preparing ceramic powders in high surface areas with high
porosity makes them well desired in some advanced applications. One example is
the use of ceramic materials as supports for heterogeneous catalysts. Another
example is the use of such materials in biomedical applications, where the surface of
nanophase ceramics exhibits a remarkably improved biomedical compatibility
compared to conventional ceramics, as discussed below.

Mechanical Properties
Ceramics are very strong materials showing considerable resistance against
compression and bending. Some ceramic materials are similar to steel in strength.
Most ceramics retain their strength at high temperatures. Silicon carbides and silicon
nitrides, as an example, retain their strength at temperatures as high as 1400C. As
a result, such materials are used in high-temperature applications. Many of the
physical and mechanical properties are particle-size dependent. As a result, several
systems of nanophase ceramics have exhibited quite interesting and favorably
enhanced mechanical properties.

Improved sintering and hardness properties

Nanoceramics are processed from nanophase powders by compacting first powders
composed of individual ceramic particles (usually less than 50 nm in size) into a raw
shape (often called a green body). This compacted powder is then heated at
elevated temperatures. Densification occurs as a result of diffusion of vacancies out
of pores (to grain boundaries), which lead to shrinkage of the sample. This process
is referred to as pressure-less sintering. Fortunately, nanophase powders were
found to compact as easily as their analogous submicron particles. To avoid particle
size growth, samples have to be sintered at the lowest temperature possible for a
time sufficient to remove the residual porosity and establish coherent grain
boundaries. Successful sintering enhances the hardness of the final material.

Experimental evidence shows that nanophase powders densify at faster rates as

compared to commercial (submicron) particles.[1] Faster densification rates allow
achieving a given density at smaller grain sizes, before serious growth takes place.
As a result of their small particle and pore sizes, nanocrystalline powders sinter to
much greater densities than their conventional analogs at the same temperature.
This also establishes that nanocrys-talline powders, as compared to conventional
powders, reach the same density at much lower temperatures. This, of course,
eliminates the need for very high temperatures.
One disadvantage that can accompany fast densifica-tion though is
inhomogeneous heating where the outside layers of the particles densify into a hard
impervious shell which constrains the inside of the sample from normal shrinking,
leading to some cracking as a result of strain incompatibility. This problem can be
avoided by several ways. The most efficient way is to heat the samples slowly to
reduce the shrinkage in the outer shell while heat is transported to the inner regions.
On the other hand, high-density nanostructured ceramic systems including Y2O3,
TiO2, and ZrO2 have been achieved by means of pressure-assisted sintering.
Applying some pressure during sintering can increase the densification rate and
suppress the particle growth.
Nanoscale powders of nonoxide ceramics such as metal carbides and nitrides show
similar behavior. Conventional SiC, as an example, is difficult to sinter. Addition of
some additives such as boron or carbon is very often necessary to densify SiC.
Ultrafine powder of SiC sinters at lower temperatures and densifies without additives.
On the other hand, mechanical properties can be fairly improved by the introduction
of metallic nanoparticles dispersed within the matrix grains. Such systems are
referred to as nanocomposites. Tungsten, nickel, or molybdenum nano-particles
dispersed within Al2O3 matrix grains, as an example, can enhance the mechanical
properties of alumina, including the fracture strength and hardness.

Reduced brittleness and enhanced ductility and superplasticity

Superplasticity and ductility refer to the capability of some polycrystalline materials to
undergo extensive tensile deformation without necking or fracture. Ceramic
brittleness is the biggest technical barrier in practical applications, especially in load-
bearing applications. Theoretical and experimental results provide evidence for the
possibility that traditional brittle materials can be ductilized by reducing their grain
sizes.[1] When made from nanoparticles, brittle ceramics can be superplastically
deformed at modest temperatures and then heat treated at higher temperatures for
high-temperature strengthening.

The capability to synthesize superplastic ceramic materials is now established.

Nanocrystalline ceramics deform at faster rates, lower stresses, and lower
temperatures. One important use of superplasticity in ceramics is diffusion bonding,
where two ceramic parts are pressed together at moderate temperatures and
pressures to form a seamless bond through diffusion and grain growth across the
interface. Diffusion bonds form more easily in nanocrystalline ceramics than in larger
grained ceramics as a result of both the enhanced plastic flow of nanocrys-talline
ceramics and the larger number of grain boundaries they provide for diffusional flux
across the interface.

Electrical Properties
Ceramics include electrical conducting, insulating, and semiconducting materials.
Chromium oxide is an electrical conductor, aluminum oxide is an insulator, while
silicon carbide behaves as a semiconductor. As a result, ceramic materials have
been used in a variety of electronic applications based on their electrical behavior.

Several electrical properties are particle-size and composition dependent. Electrical

resistance and dielectric constant, as an example, for some systems increased as a
result of small particle size. Conductivity of some mixed oxide ceramics, such as
lithium aluminosilicate, is higher than that of their constituent oxides.

Magnetic Properties
Some ceramic materials possess magnetic properties. These include iron oxide-
based ceramics and oxides of chromium, nickel, manganese, and barium. Ceramic
magnets are known to exhibit high resistance to demagnetization. As a result,
several ceramic powders have been employed in a wide range of electronic and
magnetic applications as discussed below.

The fabrication of such materials from ultrafine particles can significantly enhance
their magnetic behavior. The fact that in nanometer-sized particles a large portion of
the atoms are on the surface, where the coordination numbers are less than that for
bulk atoms, affects several parameters including unique surface/interface behavior
and different band structure, which both lead to magnetism enhancement. It is now
well established that one of the requirements to achieve appropriate coercivity and
high magnetization saturation is to fabricate such materials in highly divided
particles, preferably in the nanometer-sized range, with homogeneity and narrow
size distribution.
Many other properties are also particle-size dependent. The optical properties, as an
example, of some ceramic materials have been found to depend on particle sizes.
Nanoparticles of TiO2, as an example, are more efficient UV absorber than powders
of large particles.