Ceramics

Department of Chemistry
Ceramics and Cement
By
Dr. Pradeep Kumar C. B.
Assistant Professor of Chemistry
MCE
WHAT ARE CERAMICS
 Ceramics include all articles which are essentially silicates. In a restri
cted sense, those articles which are made of clay are mainly known a
s ceramics.
 The term “ceramic” is derived from the Greek word “Keramos”, mea
ning pottery. Ceramics are, therefore, also called as clay products or
pottery products.
 Now a days we understand by ceramics, not only the manufacture of
pottery articles, but also the manufacture of all those articles in whic
h clay or similar plastic raw material is used.
 The definition is very broad and covers a large variety of products. Su
ch as table ware and decorative ware, sanitary ware and industrial
ware etc.
Ceramic products are extensively used.
(i) In the construction and decoration of building (bricks and tiles).
(i) In the manufacture of metals (refractory materials).
(i) In the manufacture of chemical products (stoneware and porcelain)
(i) The drainage of water and sewage (stone wares).
(i) In the sanitation (earthen ware).
(i) As insulators in the electrical industry (porcelain and steatite).

Classification of Ceramics
(1) Structural ceramics- Articles used mainly in constructing buildi

ngs and various other structures belongs to this group. For exampl
e, building bricks-common bricks, brick blocks, hollow tile, roof tile,
drain tiles, etc. rock goods, such as clinker brick, ceramic slabs for fl
oors, sewer pipe etc.
(2)Facing material- Articles used for internal and external facing of bui
ldings and structures.
Examples- facing bricks and slabs and oven tiles.
(3) Refractories- Materials which retain their mechanical properties at

10000C or high temperatures. These are also used in making vario
us parts of industrial furnaces, ovens and apparatus for operating
at high temperatures.
(4) Fine Ceramics- Porcelain wares and glazed pottery are included i
n this class. They are used domestically (dishes, wash basins, sink
s, decorative articles), electrically (electro technical porcelain) an
d in laboratories (chemical ware and apparatus).
(5)Special Ceramics- A group of articles with specific properties utiliz

ed in radio industry, aviation, instruments manufacture etc.
GENERAL PROPERTIES OF CERAMICS
 (1) Chemical and Physical Properties: The components present in c
eramics, such as oxides, carbides etc, give high chemical stability to
ceramics.
 Most of the constituent oxides are usually resistant to high oxidizin

g and reducing atmospheres.
 Compactness of the crystal structure, high directional character of

chemical bonding and high field strengths of small cations of high
charge are also responsible for the stability of the ceramics.
 (2) Optical properties: Ceramics are opaque as well as trans
parent. However, most of the ceramics are transparent over
a wide range of wave length regions of the electromagnetic ra
diations.
 Optical transmission of absorbance is due to the interaction of

the electromagnetic field of the incident beam with the polariz
able electron fields of the constituent atoms or ions prese
nt in the crystal lattice of the ceramics.
 The optical properties of ceramics depend upon its compositi

on and crystal structure, because extent of polarization mai
nly depends upon or controlled by ionic size, binding energy
and crystallographic direction.
 The translucency or opacity in a ceramic body is due to scatteri
ng of light resulting due to difference in the refraction at the bo
undaries of a polyphase polycrystalline material.
(3) Mechanical Properties- Ceramics are brittle solids which are ver
y resistant to compression. The strength of ceramic is mainly con
trolled by following important factors.
(i) Temperature
(ii)Size and shape
(iii)Composition
(iv)Surface conditions, and
(v)Micro structure
 (4) Electrical and Magnetic Properties- Oxide ceramics are general
ly bad conductors or insulators in their normal oxidation states.
 The non -oxide ceramics however, act as semiconductors.
 Ceramics containing transition metal ions have also been found to s
how magnetic properties, because of spins associated with unpaire
d electrons.
 Magnetic ceramics are those which contain molecules with odd nu
mber of electrons and incompletely filled 3d 4f and 5f orbitals.
 Unlike magnetic metals, Magnetic ceramics are bad conductor of el
ectricity and hence do not conduct electricity.
PERMEABLE (POROUS) AND IMPERMEABLE (NON POROUS)
WARES
 Permeable (porous) pottery means which absorbs water. Heav

y clay ware, refractory ware, and earthen ware are the exampl
es of permeable (porous) ware.
 Impermeable (non porous) ceramic materials absorb very littl

e or no water. stone ware, vitreous china (similar to stone war
e but its color is white). China and porcelain are the examples o
f impermeable ceramic materials.
DISTINCTION BETWEEN PERMEABLE AND
IMPERMEABLE WARE
 Whether the ware is permeable (porous) or impermeable (dense)
depends on the composition of the body as well as on the tempe
rature at which the firing is carried out.
 For example, a body which is porous when fired at say, 12000C m
ay be dense when fired at say, 14000C.
 Both types of ceramic wares, may however, be glazed or unglaze
d.
 The glazed product is obtained by applying glaze on the unglazed
body either before or after firing.
BASIC RAW MATERIALS
 The three main raw materials used in making the ceramic produc
ts are thus clay, feldspar and sand.
 Clay is a product of decomposition of the mineral feldspar and is

more or less impure hydrated aluminum silicate.
 Feldspar (KAlSi3O8 or NaAlSiO3 or CaAl2Si2O8) is the most abunda

nt material found in crystalline rocks.
 Three fourths of the known surface of the earth is forms of granit

e and gneiss containing 60-70 percent feldspar.
 Granite is an unstratified, granular rock, whereas gneiss is a lamin

ated rock (i.e., arranged in layers). Both are composed of the min
erals quartz, feldspar and mica.
 Feldspars are insoluble in water but attacked by the atmo
spheric carbonic acid (CO2+H2O) and undergo decomposit
ion with the formation of alkali carbonate, aluminum silic
ate and sand.
 The aluminum silicate thus formed in a hydrate state is kn
own as Kaolinite and it is the main constituent of Kaolin o
r white china clay.
K2O.Al2O3 6SiO2+CO2+ 2H2O K2CO3+Al2O3. 2SiO3.2H2O+4SiO2

Potash Feldspar Kaolinite
The essential ingredient of all ceramic products is clay, usually kaolinite. When
it is heated at about 6000C, it loses water of hydration, leaving an amorphous
mixture of alumina and silica.
Al2O3.2SiO2.2H2O 3Al2O3.2SiO2+4SiO2+6H2O
 There are three common types of feldspars. There are Potash

feldspar (K2O.Al2O3.6SiO2).Soda feldspar (Na2O.Al2O3.6SiO2) a
nd Lime feldspar (CaO.Al2O3.6SiO).
 All the feldspars are used in ceramic products to a lesser or gr
eater extent. The potash and soda feldspar are, however, grea
tly used.
 The potash feldspar is also called as orthoclase or microline a
nd has the approximate composition given.
Properties of the clay
 Clay is a material of great importance and is used mainly in the pr

oduction of porcelain, stone ware and earthen ware.
 The important property of clay is when reacts with water, it beco

mes a plastic mass which becomes hard and stone like when hea
ted to a higher temperature.
 From a ceramic point of view, clays are plastic and mouldable wh

en sufficiently finely pulverized and wet, rigid when dry and vitreo
us when fired at a higher temperature.
Sand
 The third main constituent of ceramic material is sand. Silica occur
s abundantly in the form of quartz (rock crystal) in volcanic rocks a
nd consequently also in clays, (the decomposition products of volca
nic rocks), sand, sand stone and flint.
 Silica is used in the ceramic industry in the form of sand, sand ston
e, quartz.
 Fused silica (quartz glass) is extensively used in the manufacture of
those articles where very great resistance to sudden temperature c
hanges is essential, e.g. laboratory wares. This is probably due to th
e very low thermal expansion of fused silica.
1) Earthen ware- All properties that are permeable or porous, ma
de from red burning clays and white clays, and coated with a gl
aze are included in earthen ware. It is harder than terra cotta b
ecause it is fired at a higher temperature.
1) Stone Ware- Potteries which become impermeable to liquids d

uring firing are called stone wares. Stone ware is ceramic ware
with a slightly greyish or brownish body. They are dense and of
ten glazed with a salt glaze. Drain water pipes, zars, carboys for
keeping liquids, specially acids, sanitary wares, such as wash ba
sins etc., are the examples of stone ware.
(c) Porcelain- Porcelain is a pottery with a white, translucent and
impermeable body. They are the best type of potteries and th
e composition of the body is so adjusted that when subjected
to high temperatures, it becomes completely translucent to li
ght.

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Department of Chemistry

Ceramics and Cement

(i) In the manufacture of metals (refractory materials).

(i) In the manufacture of chemical products (stoneware and porcelain)

(i) The drainage of water and sewage (stone wares).

(i) In the sanitation (earthen ware).

(i) As insulators in the electrical industry (porcelain and steatite).

(1) Structural ceramics- Articles used mainly in constructing buildi

(3) Refractories- Materials which retain their mechanical properties at

(5)Special Ceramics- A group of articles with specific properties utiliz

 Most of the constituent oxides are usually resistant to high oxidizin

 Compactness of the crystal structure, high directional character of

 Optical transmission of absorbance is due to the interaction of

 The optical properties of ceramics depend upon its compositi

 Permeable (porous) pottery means which absorbs water. Heav

 Impermeable (non porous) ceramic materials absorb very littl

 Clay is a product of decomposition of the mineral feldspar and is

 Feldspar (KAlSi3O8 or NaAlSiO3 or CaAl2Si2O8) is the most abunda

 Three fourths of the known surface of the earth is forms of granit

 Granite is an unstratified, granular rock, whereas gneiss is a lamin

K2O.Al2O3 6SiO2+CO2+ 2H2O K2CO3+Al2O3. 2SiO3.2H2O+4SiO2

 There are three common types of feldspars. There are Potash

 Clay is a material of great importance and is used mainly in the pr

 The important property of clay is when reacts with water, it beco

 From a ceramic point of view, clays are plastic and mouldable wh

1) Stone Ware- Potteries which become impermeable to liquids d

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