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Chapter 6 - Ceramics and Carbon Materials
Chapter 6 - Ceramics and Carbon Materials
Chapter 6 - Ceramics and Carbon Materials
Materials
Pivotal Questions:
- What are ceramic materials?
- What are the industrial uses of ceramics?
- What happens to ceramic materials at the end of
their useful lives?
- Is graphite a ceramic or a polymer?
- Do other carbon materials offer unusual
properties?
Ceramics
Ceramics are compounds containing both
metallic and non-metallic atoms
Name comes from the Greek word Keramos
meaning pottery
Ceramics cover a wide range of materials
from glasses to cement to body armor
Blend of ionic and covalent bonds provide
most ceramics with hardness and stability
If the bonding is primarily ionic
Small cations bonds with larger anions
Sintering
Silica Glasses
Non-crystalline material
made from crystalline SiO2
When a-quartz is heated it
undergoes a series of phase
transformation and
eventually melts
The high viscosity of molten
silica prevents the molecules
from aligning into the
energetically favored b-
cristoballite form.
Silica Structure
The basic structure of glass is
based on the SiO44-
tetrahedron shown on the
right.
The silicon atom sits in the
center with oxygen in each
corner
The silicon-oxygen bonds
possess both ionic and
covalent characteristics
Loose Networks
Although there is no large-
scale crystalline order in the
glass, the tetrahedra form a
loose network with corner to
corner contact
A typical loose network is
pictured at the right
Additives to Glasses
Network modifiers – metal
oxides added to reduce the
viscosity of the loose networks.
Oxygen atoms from the oxides
break up the network by
occupying a tetrahedral site.
Intermediate Oxides –
molecules incapable of forming
their own network, but able to
join the existing loose network.
Used to enhance specific
properties (e.g. - Lead oxide
increases the index of refraction
making the glass more lustrous).
Additives used as coloring agents
Float-Glass Process
Over 80% of commercial
glass is produced this way
Constituents are melted in a
furnace
A fine glass ribbon is drawn
from the furnace and floats
on the surface of the molten
tin
Tin and glass are immiscible,
so a perfectly smooth surface
forms between them
The glass is then annealed in
a special furnace called a lehr
Cements
Cement is a generic term referring to any material
capable of binding things together
In materials, cement generally refers to two classes of
materials
Hydraulic cements that require water to form a solid
Non-hydraulic cements that form a solid without water
The most common hydraulic cement is Portland
Cement
Portland Cement
Made from pulverized nodules of sintered calcium
silicates
Most common use is in the ubiquitous building
material concrete
Composition of Portland Cement
Classes of Portland Cement
Cement Nomenclature
To characterize the complex series of reactions that
occur in concrete formation, a system of chemical
shorthand has been developed
Four stages of cement production
Evaporation – Dehydration in which excess water is
driven off
Calcination in which calcium carbonate is converted
to calcium oxide
Clinkering in which calcium trisilicates form
Cooling in which the heated materials return to room
temperature
Evaporation - Dehydration
A mixture of calcium carbon carbonate (CaCO3),
quartz (SiO2), and clay (Fe2O3 and Al2O3) particles are
mixed in a rotary kiln and heated to between 250°C
and 450°C to drive off all free water.
As the heating continues to around 600°C, any water
bound to the silicates and oxides is removed.
Calcination
Begins at approximately 900°C
Clinkering
Begins around 1450°C and forms calcium silicates
Cement Formation
Porosity in Cement
Porosity has a significant impact on the strength of
cement