APPLIED CHEMISTRY(3130506)

Semester – III
Chapter Name: Semi /Noncrystalline/Amorphous materials

Ceramics:
Ceramics are inorganic, nonmetallic, semi/Nonporous materials composed of Thermally stable mineral
aggregates, a binder phase and additives.
These materials have ability to Retain its physical shape and chemical identity when subjected to certain
chemicals.
 The crystallinity of ceramic materials ranges from highly oriented to semi-crystalline, vitrified, and often
completely amorphous (e.g., glasses).
 Properties:
 A ceramic material is an inorganic, non-metallic, often crystalline oxide, nitride or carbide material. Some
elements, such as carbon or silicon, may be considered ceramics.
 Ceramic materials are brittle, hard, strong in compression, and weak in shearing and tension.
 They withstand chemical erosion that occurs in other materials subjected to acidic or caustic environments.
Ceramics generally can withstand very high temperatures, ranging from 1,000 °c to 1,600 °c (1,800 °f to
3,000 °f).
 Glass is often not considered a ceramic because of its amorphous (noncrystalline) character.
 However, glassmaking involves several steps of the ceramic process, and its mechanical properties are
similar to ceramic materials.
 Types:
 Crystalline ceramics
 Crystalline ceramic materials are not amenable to a great range of processing. Methods for dealing with
them tend to fall into one of two categories – either make the ceramic in the desired shape, by reaction in
situ, or by "forming" powders into the desired shape, and then sintering to form a solid body.
 Ceramic forming techniques include shaping by hand and dry pressing, and other variations.
 Noncrystalline ceramics
 Noncrystalline ceramics, being glass, tend to be formed from melts. The glass is shaped when either fully
molten, by casting, or when in a state of toffee-like viscosity, by methods such as blowing into a mold.
 If later heat treatments cause this glass to become partly crystalline, the resulting material is known as a
glass-ceramic, widely used as cook-tops and also as a glass composite material for nuclear waste disposal.
 Applications
 Knife blades: the blade of a ceramic knife will stay sharp for much longer than that of a steel knife.
 Carbon-ceramic brake disks for vehicles are resistant to brake fade at high temperatures.
 Advanced composite ceramic and metal matrices have been designed for most modern armoured fighting
vehicles because they offer superior penetrating resistance against shaped charges.

Prepared By: Ms. SUKRUTI JOSHI

 APPLIED CHEMISTRY(3130506)
Semester – III
Chapter Name: Semi /Noncrystalline/Amorphous materials

 Ceramics such as alumina and boron carbide have been used in ballistic armored vests to repel high-
velocity rifle fire. Such plates are known commonly as small arms protective inserts, or sapis. Similar
material is used to protect the cockpits of some military airplanes, because of the low weight of the
material.
 Ceramics can be used in place of steel for ball bearings.

REFRACTORIES AND INSULATORS

 Refractories are inorganic, nonmetallic, porous and heterogeneous materials composed of
thermally stable mineral aggregates, a binder phase and additives.
 Properties:
These materials have ability to retain its physical shape and chemical identity when subjected to high
temperatures.
Refractories act as a thermal barrier between a hot medium and the wall of the containing vessel,
represent a chemical protective barrier against corrosion, ensure a physical protection, prevent the
erosion of walls by the circulating hot medium and act as thermal insulation for heat retention.
 CLASSIFICATION/TYPES
 Refractories can be classified in the different following ways.
 Classification based on chemical composition
 1.Acid refractories –These are used in areas where slag and atmosphere are acidic. They are stable
to acids but attacked by alkalis. Example of these refractories are silica (SiO2), zirconia
(ZrO2),alumina, fire-clay refractories etc.
 2.Basic refractories –These refractories are used on areas where slags and atmosphere are basic,
they are stable to alkaline slag, dust and fumes at the elevated temperatures. Example of these
refractories are magnesia, dolomite and chromite.
 3.Neutral refractories – These refractories are chemically stable to both acids and bases and used
in the areas where slag and environment are either acidic or basic. Examples are carbon graphite,
chromites and alumina. Grphite is the least reactive.
 Based on Classification based on physical form
 Shaped refractories – These are commonly known as refractory bricks and are those which have
fixed shape.
The shapes can be standard shape or special shape. Standard shaped bricks have
dimensions that are conformed to by most refractory manufacturers and are generally applicable to
kilns and furnaces of the same type.
On the other hand, special shaped refractories are specifically
made for particular furnace.
 Unshaped refractories – These refractories are without definite form.These refractories are further
categorized as plastic refractories, ramming mixes, castables, gunning mixes, fettling mixes and
mortars.
 EXAMPLES AND APPLICATIONS
1.Zirconia refractories- Zirconia refractories contain Zirconium dioxide (ZrO2) which is a
polymorphic material. It has certain difficuties in its usage and fabrication as a refractoy
material ,hence it is stablized by incorporating small quantities of calcium, magnesium and cerium
oxides.
2.Alumina refractories – Alumina refractories contain alumina (Al2O3) which is one of the most
Prepared By: Ms. SUKRUTI JOSHI
 APPLIED CHEMISTRY(3130506)
Semester – III
Chapter Name: Semi /Noncrystalline/Amorphous materials

chemically stable oxides.

Alumina offers excellent hardness, strength and spalling resistance. It is insoluble in water,
superheated steam and in most inorganic acids and alkalis.
Alumina refractories carry all purpose characteristics of fireclay refractories into higher temperature
ranges which make these refractories suitable for lining furnaces up to 1850 deg C.
3.Insulating refractories –Insulating refractories are high porosity refractories with low thermal
conductivity used to reduce the rate of heat flow and thus reduce heat losses by maximizing heat
conservation within a furnace. Insulating refractories are lighter with low densities.

CEMENT
Cement, in general, adhesive substances of all kinds, but, in a narrower side, the binding materials
used in building and civil engineering construction. Cements of this kind are finely ground powders
that, when mixed with water, set to a hard mass.

 PROPERTIES

 basic raw materials used to manufacture Portland cements are limestone (calcium carbonate) and
clay or shale. Iron and alumina are frequently added if they are not already present in sufficient
quantity in the clay or shale.
 These materials are blended together, either wet or dry, and fed into a rotary kiln, which fuses the
limestone slurry at temperatures ranging from 2,600 to 3,000°F into a material called cement clinker.
 After it cools, the clinker is pulverized and blended with a small amount of gypsum to control the
setting time of the finished cement

 TYPES AND APPLICATIONS

There are various types of cement used in concrete construction. Each type of cement has its own
properties, uses and advantages based on composition materials used during its manufacture.
 Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC)
Ordinary Portland cement is the most widely used type of cement which is suitable for all general
concrete construction. It is most widely produced and used type of cement around the world with
annual global production of around 3.8 million cubic meters per year. This cement is suitable for all
type of concrete construction.
 Portland Pozzolana Cement (PPC)
Portland pozzolana cement is prepared by grinding pozzolanic clinker with Portland cement. It is
also produced by adding pozzolana with the addition of gypsum or calcium sulfate or by intimately
and uniformly blending portland cement and fine pozzolana.
 Rapid Hardening Cement
Rapid hardening cement attains high strength in early days it is used in concrete where formworks
are removed at an early stage and is similar to ordinary portland cement (OPC). This cement has
increased lime content and contains finer grinding which gives greater strength development than
OPC at an early stage.

Prepared By: Ms. SUKRUTI JOSHI

 APPLIED CHEMISTRY(3130506)
Semester – III
Chapter Name: Semi /Noncrystalline/Amorphous materials

 Quick setting cement

The difference between the quick setting cement and rapid hardening cement is that quick setting
cement sets earlier while rate of gain of strength is similar to Ordinary Portland Cement, while rapid
hardening cement gains strength quickly. Quick setting cement is used where works is to be
completed in very short period and for concreting in static or running water..

 Sulphates Resisting Cement

Sulfate resisting cement is used to reduce the risk of sulphate attack on concrete and thus is used in
construction of foundations where soil has high sulphate content.
 White Cement
It is prepared from raw materials free from Iron oxide and is a type of ordinary portland cement which
is white in color.
It is costlier and is used for architectural purposes such as precast curtain wall and facing panels,
terrazzo surface etc. and for interior and exterior decorative work like external renderings of buildings,
facing slabs, floorings, ornamental concrete products, paths of gardens, swimming pools etc.

NANOCOMPOSITES
Nanocomposite is a multiphase solid material where one of the phases has one, two or three
dimensions of less than 100 nanometers (nm) or structures having nano-scale distances between the
different phases that make up the material.

The idea behind Nanocomposite is to use building blocks with dimensions in nanometre range to
design and create new materials with unprecedented flexibility and improvement in their physical properties.

 PROPERTIES
 Large amount of reinforcement surface area means that a relatively small amount of nanoscale
reinforcement can have an observable effect on the macroscale properties of the composite.
 For example, adding carbon nanotubes improves the electrical and thermal conductivity. Other kinds of
nanoparticulates may result in enhanced optical properties, dielectric properties, heat resistance or
mechanical properties such as stiffness, strength and resistance to wear and damage.
 In general, the nano reinforcement is dispersed into the matrix during processing. The percentage by
weight (called mass fraction) of the nanoparticulates introduced can remain very low.
 EXAMPLES AND APPLICATIONS
 Ceramic-matrix nanocomposites
 Ceramic matrix composites (CMCs) consist of ceramic fibers embedded in a ceramic matrix. The matrix
and fibers can consist of any ceramic material, including carbon and carbon fibers.
 The ceramic occupying most of the volume is often from the group of oxides, such as nitrides, borides,
silicides, whereas the second component is often a metal.
 Ideally both components are finely dispersed in each other in order to elicit particular optical, electrical and
magnetic properties .

 Metal-matrix nanocomposites

Prepared By: Ms. SUKRUTI JOSHI

 APPLIED CHEMISTRY(3130506)
Semester – III
Chapter Name: Semi /Noncrystalline/Amorphous materials

 Metal matrix nanocomposites can also be defined as reinforced metal matrix composites.
 This type of composites can be classified as continuous and non-continuous reinforced materials. One
of the more important nanocomposites is Carbon nanotube metal matrix composites, which is an
emerging new material that is being developed to take advantage of the high tensile strength and
electrical conductivity of carbon nanotube materials.
 In addition to carbon nanotube metal matrix composites, boron nitride reinforced metal matrix
composites and carbon nitride metal matrix composites are the new research areas on metal matrix
nanocomposites
 Polymer-matrix nanocomposites
 In the simplest case, appropriately adding nanoparticulates to a polymer matrix can enhance its
performance, often dramatically, by simply capitalizing on the nature and properties of the nanoscale
filler.
 This strategy is particularly effective in yielding high performance composites, when uniform
dispersion of the filler is achieved and the properties of the nanoscale filler are substantially different
or better than those of the matrix.
 They are widely used by reinforcement agencies.

ZEOLITE

Zeolite, any member of a family of hydrated aluminosilicate minerals that contain alkali and alkaline-earth
metals. The zeolites are noted for their lability toward ion-exchange and reversible dehydration. They have a
framework structure that encloses interconnected cavities occupied by large metal cations (positively charged
ions) and water molecules.

Natural zeolites occur in mafic volcanic rocks as cavity fillings, probably as a result of deposition by fluids or
vapours. In sedimentary rocks zeolites occur as alteration products of volcanic glass and serve as cementing
material in detrital rocks.

SILICA
 Silicon dioxide, also known as silica, is an oxide of silicon with the chemical formula SiO2, most commonly found
in nature as quartz and in various living organisms.

 silica is the major constituent of sand. Silica is one of the most complex and most abundant families of materials,
existing as a compound of several minerals and as synthetic product. Notable examples include fused quartz,
fumed silica, silica gel, and aerogels.

 It is used in structural materials, microelectronics (as an electrical insulator), and as components in the food and
pharmaceutical industries.

Prepared By: Ms. SUKRUTI JOSHI

 APPLIED CHEMISTRY(3130506)
Semester – III
Chapter Name: Semi /Noncrystalline/Amorphous materials

LIQUID CRYSTALS
 It’s substance that blends the structures and properties of the normally disparate liquid and crystalline
solid states.
 Liquids can flow, for example, while solids cannot, and crystalline solids possess special symmetry
properties that liquids lack.
 Ordinary solids melt into ordinary liquids as the temperature increases—e.g., ice melts into liquid water.
Some solids actually melt twice or more as temperature rises. Between the crystalline solid at low
temperatures and the ordinary liquid state at high temperatures lies an intermediate state, the liquid
crystal.
 Liquid crystals share with liquids the ability to flow but also display symmetries inherited from
crystalline solids.
 It has different structural symmetries like smectic ,nematic etc.
 The resulting combination of liquid and solid properties allows important applications of liquid crystals
in the displays of such devices as wristwatches, calculators, portable computers, and flat-screen
televisions.

Prepared By: Ms. SUKRUTI JOSHI