Cement & Ceramic Technology
Chapter - III
Individual Ceramic Materials
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Alumina
Alumina (Al2O3) Ceramic: -Al2O3
▪ Alumina ceramics, robust industrial oxide ceramics.
▪ It’s derived from bauxite and can be fabricated
using various techniques such as injection molding,
die pressing, isotactic pressing, slip casting,
diamond machining, and extrusion.
▪ Alumina ceramics are harder, primarily serve as
insulating materials, as well as having excellent
resistance to chemicals, high temperatures, wear,
erosion, and corrosion.
▪ High thermally stable, and have good electrical
properties.
▪ Bioinert nature, suitable for medical implants.
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Properties of Alumina
▪ Depending on the content of Al2O3 and additives used, there are different
series of alumina materials.
✓ Alumina is categorized as 75% alumina, 85% alumina, 95% alumina.
✓ Based on crystal base: mullite, corundum-mullite, and corundum
✓ Based on additives used: chromium corundum, titanium corundum, etc.
▪ It has a very high melting point and strong mechanical strength.
▪ Alumina is also slightly soluble in strong acid (hot H2SO4, hot HCl, and HF), and
alkaline solutions, but does not dissolve in water.
▪ Introduction of additives, affect the physical and chemical properties of
alumina, which helps to produce of varying sizes and shapes.
▪ Like aluminum nitride, Alumina ceramics have good thermal conductivity and
good electrical insulation properties.
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Application of Alumina Ceramics
▪ Due to excellent chemical stability, alumina ceramics are widely used in acid-
resistant pump impellers, pump bodies, acid-carrying pipe linings, and valves.
▪ It’s extreme hardness & wear resistance used to manufacture textile wear
parts and knives.
▪ Used as abrasive grain in the woodwork and metalwork industry.
▪ Used in making of spark plugs, which are useful in a wide variety of engines.
▪ Alumina ceramics are used as excellent electrical insulators in electrical and
electronics appliances.
▪ Transparent alumina shows good permeability to visible light and IR rays.
▪ Other applications of alumina ceramics can be seen in seal rings, medical
prostheses, laser tubes, thermocouple tubes, electronic substrates, ballistic
armor, electrical insulators, grinding media, and wear components.
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Zirconia
▪ Main sources of zirconium are zirconate (ZrO2-SiO2, ZrSiO4) and
baddeleyite (ZrO2).
▪ Zirconate is more abundant, but less pure, requiring significant
processing to get zirconia.
▪ Baddelyite contains levels of zirconia ranging from 96.5% to 98.5%, so it
is a source of purity in obtaining zirconium metal and its compounds.
▪ ZrO2 resulting from baddeleyite, which is also known as zirconia.
▪ Zirconia used as a biomaterial (orthopedic) started in the late sixties of
the last century.
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Zirconia
Zirconia (ZrO2) Ceramics
▪ High toughness/strength.
▪ Resistance to thermal shock, wear, and corrosion.
▪ Low thermal conductivity, friction coefficient. Ceramic Knife
▪ Used in engine components.
▪ Exists in three crystalline forms: monoclinic, tetragonal, and cubic.
▪ Range of stability:
1170 oC 2370 oC 2680 oC
Monoclinic Tetragonal Cubic Liquid
Reduced mechanical performance. Allows a ceramic with improved Moderate mechanical
Reduction in the cohesion of the mechanical properties to be properties
ceramic particles and density obtained
Large Volume Small
▪ T m transformation 3-5% volume expansion.
▪ Properties: Density: 5.68 g/cc; Melting point: 2700 oC.
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▪ Zirconia cannot use as a high-temperature ceramic without stabilization.
Stabilization
▪ Maintenance of the tetragonal form at room temperature by the
addition of stabilizing oxides.
▪ Different oxides, such as Y2O, CaO, or MgO, added to zirconia to
stabilize, allowing tetragonal form to exist at room temp. after sintering.
▪ Addition of varying amounts of stabilizers allows the formation of
partially or fully stabilized zirconia, may result in ceramics with, high
flexural strength and fracture toughness, high hardness, excellent
chemical resistance, and good ionic conductivity.
▪ So, a stabilized zirconia is obtained by adding sufficient amounts of
stabilizing oxides: 16 mol% of MgO, 16 mol% of CaO, or 8 mol% Y2O3.
▪ Partial stabilization of zirconia creates a multiphase structure.
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Properties
▪ Biological characteristics.
✓ Biocompatibility: Highly biocompatible, especially when it is completely purified
of its radioactive contents.
✓ Zirconia-based ceramics, chemically inert materials, allow good cell adhesion.
✓ Zirconia has a lower toxicity than TiO2.
✓ No cytotoxicity, carcinogenicity, mutagenicity, or chromosomal alterations in
fibroblasts or blood cells.
▪ Mechanical characteristics
✓ Flexural strength
✓ Transformation toughening: without mass transfer, the range of temperatures,
and changes the shape of the nucleus.
▪ Optical characteristics.
✓ adequate transparency + adequate strength.
✓ Adequate level of opacity, and they also allow a controlled transparency after
lamination, due to their homogeneity and high density.
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Applications of Zirconia
▪ Clinical applications:
✓ Full and partial coverage crowns or fixed partial dentures (tooth preparation).
✓ Implants and implant abutments: Excellent esthetics as metal-free, white color.
✓ Use as cutting burs, surgical drills, extra-coronal attachments, and orthodontic
brackets..
▪ Orthodontic brackets: Enhanced strength, superior resistance to deformation and
wear, reduced plaque adhesion, improved esthetics, good sliding properties with
arch wires.
▪ Cutting and surgical instruments:
✓ Used in implantology, operative dentistry, and soft tissue trimming.
✓ Surgical instruments like scalpels, tweezers, periosteal elevators, and depth
gauges.
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Carbide Ceramics
▪ Silicon carbide (SiC), tungsten carbide (WC), titanium carbide (TiC), tantalum
carbide (TaC), and chromium carbide (Cr3C2).
▪ A century ago, SiC was produced and included among traditional ceramics.
▪ WC, TiC, and TaC combined with a (Co or Ni) to fabricate solid products.
Silicon Carbide
▪ It’s a semi-conducting ceramic material.
▪ Types: Alpha SiC and beta SiC.
▪ Properties: High tensile strength, high stiffness, hardness, better dimensional
stability, good wear resistance, and good corrosion resistance.
▪ Applications:
✓ As abrasives for a grinding wheel
✓ Coating material, refractory tubes, nuclear reactor, bearing, and in very high
temperature places.
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Silicon Nitride
▪ It’s used as a full ceramic in chemical industries.
▪ Under carbothermal reduction (reaction of quartz with ammonia) or from the gas
phase with silicon tetrachloride, Si3N4 is produced when Si reacts with nitrogen.
▪ Properties:
✓ Resistant to strong acids; excellent thermal shock resistance.
✓ Low density, low weight, low thermal expansion, and stiffer.
▪ Applications:
✓ Cutting tool materials; Turbine parts, pump parts.
✓ High temperature engineering components.
✓ Its surface chemistry can be varied from a silica-rich to a predominantly
silicon-amine composition, which can influence the in vivo response of cells,
bacteria, and tissues.
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Glass
A state of matter as well as a type of ceramic
▪ An amorphous (noncrystalline) structure of a solid material.
▪ The glassy state occurs when insufficient time is allowed during cooling
from the molten state to form a crystalline structure.
▪ Inorganic nonmetallic compound (or mixture of compounds) that cools
to a rigid condition without crystallizing.
▪ Silica is the main component, comprising 50 – 70% of the composition.
▪ Other ingredients: Na2O, CaO, Al2O3, MgO, K2O, PbO, B2O3.
▪ Glass product:
In construction (window, door glasses), containers (cups, jars, bottles),
light bulbs, laboratory glassware, glass fibers (insulation, fiber optics),
and optical glasses (lenses).
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Refractories
▪ Products applied at temperatures 600 oC are refractories.
▪ Retains its strength at high temperature.
▪ According to ASTM, refractories are defined as:
Non-metallic materials having those chemical and physical properties that
make them applicable for structures or as components of systems, that
are exposed to environments above 1000 oF (800 K, 500 oC).
▪ Depending on the operating environment, they need to be resistant to thermal
shock, be chemically inert, have specific ranges of thermal conductivity and of
the coefficient of thermal expansion.
▪ The oxides of aluminum (alumina), silicon (silica), and magnesium (magnesia)
are the most important materials used in the manufacturing of refractories.
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Abrasives
▪ Abrasive ceramics are used to wear, grind, or cut away other material, which
necessarily is softer.
The primary need for this material is hardness or wear resistance.
▪ Synthetic (artificial) materials are utilized as abrasives; however, they are
relatively expensive.
▪ Common ceramic abrasives include SiC, WC, Al2O3, and silica sand.
▪ Abrasives are used in several forms: bonded to grinding wheels, as coated
abrasives.
▪ Coated abrasives are those in which an abrasive powder is coated on some type
of paper or cloth material.
▪ Wood, metals, ceramics, and plastics are all frequently ground and polished
using this form of coated abrasives.
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Abrasives
▪ Some kind of coated abrasives are commonly available in sheets,
rolls, discs, and belts, and they are used for finishing.
▪ Cartridge rolls: Used on a mandrel, on high-speed tools, to
sand/grind those tight, hard-to-reach areas that other abrasives
can’t hit.
▪ Cross pads: Used for polishing of small radii and channels,
deburring the ends and insides of tubing, and other applications.
▪ Flap wheels: Versatile abrasives that are used for finishing tasks.
Their flexibility allows the wheels to access hard-to-reach areas. Cartridge rolls
Deburring Wheels
Cross Pads Flap Wheels
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Processing of Alumina: Bayer Process
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Bayer Process
▪ It is the main process of refining Bauxite to produce alumina.
▪ Bauxite is the most important ore of Aluminum, containing 40-60% of Al2O3.
▪ Rest being the mixture of silica, iron oxide & other oxides.
▪ Refined Al2O3 is obtained from the bauxite by the Bayer process, comprising
four steps: Digestion, clarification (filter), precipitation, and calcination.
▪ Digestion:
✓ Bauxite slurry is pumped from the holding tanks to the digester, where it is
mixed with hot. concentrated caustic soda liquor.
✓ Most bauxite ores are composed of gibbsite, Al(OH)3, boehmite (-AlO(OH))
and diaspore (-AlO(OH)).
✓ Digested at 205 – 245 oC under a pressure of 35.
▪ Clarification:
✓ Except alumina and silica, all other bauxite components (CaO, Fe2O3, TiO2)
do not dissolve in the caustic soda liquor.
✓ Silica dissolved in the liquor is then precipitated from it by slow heating.
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Cont…
▪ Precipitation: Crystals of aluminum hydroxide (Al(OH)3) are covered.
✓ Clear liquor is pumped from the settlers to the precipitators (thickening
tank) through heat exchangers, which transfer the heat from the solution to
the cold spent (processed) liquor.
✓ The crystals of aluminum hydroxide/alumina trihydrate (Al2O3.3H2O) grow
and aggregate.
✓ The coarser particles are separated from the fine particles and transferred
to calcination.
▪ Calcination:
✓ The aluminum hydrate crystals are washed, dried, and then heated to a
temperature of 1010 – 1260 oC in a rotatory kiln or fluidized bed calciners to
drive off the hydrated water.
✓ At high temperature -alumina transforms into -alumina (final product).
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