What is Yttrium?

As the work week draws to a close, we thought it would be neat to post a video that delves a little into the origins of Yttrium, an element that's often combined with zirconium to create Yttria-stabilized zirconium, a technical ceramic that's used for a variety of applications.

• Valve components for acids;
• Plugs and pistons;
• Ceramic balls;
• Press tools;
• and wear plates.
  

A Growing Trend in Japanese Investment Signals a Huge Market for Water Filtration

There is good news for ceramic water filter manufacturers. A recent Forbes news story reports that trading in Japan seems to indicate that the global water market could surpass $1 trillion by 2025. The nation’s sic largest trading companies are all vying for water supply and sewage treatment contracts, signaling an aggressive shift toward clean water assets.

As water shortages become more of a global phenomenon, the demand for clean drinking water will skyrocket. Presently, the World Health Organization estimates that more than 900 million people around the world lack adequate, safe drinking water. That number will only increase without a ramped up global water purification and desalination effort.

This is great news for makers of water filtration, purification, and desalination products. Large investment companies and governments are eager to invest in resources and develop infrastructure to handle the growing need for clean water. The article goes on to speculate that in some instances, makers of cutting-edge ceramic water filtration technology may go on to function as plant operators rather than merely as equipment and parts suppliers.

Ceramics Engineer Cum Novelist

Here's a lighthearted story for a Friday. Ken Butcher, who has a a B.S. in ceramic engineering from Ohio State University and owns his own company that specializes in projects related to fuel cells and material processing, has just published his first novel, The Middle of the Air. Butcher worked for two years as a reviewer for the Department of Energy’s fuel cell–related projects in the National Labs, holds 15 U.S. patents, and has published numerous scientific papers. In his own words, Butcher parlayed his technical writing experience and discipline into fiction writing.

I guess in my case the breakthrough I had to make was not to try to plan it out too much and just devote a certain amount of time every day. In my case what worked was to do it first thing in the morning. Find something that works for you and just stick to it. You heajavascript:void(0)r a lot about the struggles of writers but the most positive interpretation I can make is everybody wants you to write a good book. Everybody does. The publisher would love to get a great manuscript in the mail. Readers would love to find a good book, with a new author, and even people that don’t read like good movies so they want good books to make good movies out of. So just remember everyone’s on your side.

Check out Butcher's site here. And if you're in the technical ceramics field and have a passion for creative writing, let this be an example to you: You can have your cake and eat it too.

Ceramics Stops Bullets, Saves Lives

The American Ceramic Society has some really awesome videos about ceramic body armor. It can literally stop a bullet from a gun whose muzzle is directly in front of the armored area. Be sure to click through and check them out. The footage of the soldier being shot by a sniper and then immediately rising to his feet is breathtaking and cool.

What is nanofiltration?

When you think of nanotechnology, you may think of an imperceptible, self-replicating microplague come to wipe out the human race (as in the Michael Crichton novel). Or you may consider the ever-decreasing size of technology. But a form of nanotechnology performs another function: Nanofiltration removes harmful particles from our drinking water every day.

Nanofiltration came to prominence in the 1970s and 1980s as an alternative to reverse osmosis, ultrafiltration, and microfiltration. These forms of water filtration were not totally effective at removing particles of all sizes, however. As filter technology improved, ie, as more technical, advanced membranes were designed, smaller-sized grains were able to be filtered out. By the end of the 1980s, nanofiltration technology had developed such that it filtered out adulterants from water that other filtration technologies could not. This article on nanofiltration says, for instance,

The key difference between nanofiltration and reverse osmosis is that the latter retains monovalent salts (such as sodium chloride), whereas nanofiltration allows them to pass, and then retains divalent salts such as sodium sulphate. Robert Peterson, in his Foreword to Elsevier's Nanofiltration – principles and applications, describes reverse osmosis (especially in the water treatment business) as the main course, the steak perhaps, of a meal, whereas nanofiltration “is like the wine menu … an opportunity for creativity and exploration”.

The key to the development of nanofitraltion technology has been creating better and better filtration technologies. Nanofiltration is a liquid phase membrane separation process; it separates inorganic and organic substances from solution in a liquid. Nanofiltration separates these substances by running them through a membrane under pressure (a smaller amount of pressure than what would normally be used for reverse osmosis, as well). Great advances in nanofiltration generally occurs due to the creation of better membrane technologies. Presently, many nanofiltration systems use an inorganic material; ceramic is an especially popular material.

Ceramics have excellent corrosive-resitance and feature an excellent range of control over their porosity. Ceramic membranes have the advantage of being fully capable of functioning in very high or very low pH environments. Ceramic nanofiltration has industrial applications in the food and dairy sector, chemical processing, pulp and paper industry, and textiles. However, the predominant use of nanofiltration is of course in fresh, process, and waste water filtration.

A growing use of ceramics in nanofiltration is with field of nanofiber media. Nanofibers are made of synthetic materials that are spun into fibers whose diameters range from 10 μm to 100 nm. Advances in spinning techniques have enabled water filtration manufacturers to better utilize ceramic technology. Such ceramic nanofilters feature the high density and durability of ceramics with the capability of removing contaminants to below 0.1 μm. Using ceramics in water filtration technology has increased the robustness and safety of our water supply. And as manufacturers of technical ceramics find ways to decrease cost, we will only see ceramics’ influence in water filtration technology increase.

Mercedes-Benz Stops With Ceramics

Mercedes-Benz has developed new braking technology that utilizes technical, stress-resistant ceramics. Upon request, the automaker will install in a new vehicle an AMG high-performance braking system, which uses composite brake discs.

eMercedesBenz, a Mercedes-Benz blog, describes the AMG high-perfomance braking system as sporting,

ventilated, grooved and perforated brake discs all-round in size 390 x 36 millimetres at the front and 360 x 26 millimetres at the rear ensure excellent deceleration performance. Brake discs in race-tested composite technology are installed at the front axle, with the grey cast iron discs radially and axially floating, and fixed to an aluminium bowl via stainless steel connections. This sophisticated technology ensures highly efficient heat conduction, and therefore outstanding fade-resistance even with a highly dynamic style of driving.

They go on to say that the optional ceramic composite braking system--labeled “AMGCarbon Ceramic” uses discs fashioned from carbon-fiber and reinforced by ceramics in a vacuum at 1700 degrees Celsius. The resulting brake disc is extremely pressure- and stress-resistant, which allows for a markedly decreased braking distance. Not only that, but the composite ceramic disks are 40% lighter than cast iron brake discs and allow for a more direct steering response while driving the car.

This is yet another great use of technical ceramics. It’s almost amazing how designers and engineers are only lately using ceramic materials for such diverse applications calling for extreme heat- and stress-resistance. Historically, the entry cost of working with ceramics has been high, but as manufacturing processes and materials decrease in price, ceramic technologies are being adopted at a high rate, passing on a great value and quality proposition to the consumer.

Georgia Tech Researchers Discovery Mystery Ceramic

Researchers at Georgia Tech have created a new ceramic material that could have revolutionary applications in fuel cell technology. It is still in a nascent, developmental stage, but it could reduce tremendously the cost of creating fuel cells. The high cost of fuel cells has been a barrier to their wider adoption.

The Georgia Tech researchers were supported by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Basic Energy Science Catalysis Science Program. Using the government money, they developed a new material for use in solid oxide fuel cells (SOFC). A SOFC generally uses a ceramic electrolyte, which in this case is a yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ) ceramic. Traditionally, YSZ operates poorly in an SOFC because it is inefficient, clogs easily, and must operate at a high temperature due to its poor conductivity at low temperatures. The new ceramic material, though, gets around all these drawbacks.

The material is a Barium-Zirconium-Cerium-Yttrium-Ytterbium Oxide (BZCYYb), which can be used as a coating on a traditional anode or a replacement for YSZ altogether. It has been lab-proven for performance up to 1,000 hours of continuous use, but it requires more testing to determine its stability and lifespan.

Researcher Meilin Liu says,

“Solid oxide fuel cells offer high energy efficiency, the potential for direct utilization of all types of fuels including renewable biofuels, and the possibility of lower costs since they do not use any precious metals... We are working to reduce the cost of solid oxide fuel cells to make them viable in many new applications, and this new material brings us much closer to doing that.”

Ceramic Semi-Conductors?

Dr. Jagdish Narayan, a researcher at North Carolina State University, has developed a new ceramic material that has exciting applications in semi-conductor technology. By adding some strategically selected impurities to their ceramics research, they have created a chip that can hold one bit of data in a space that is 90% smaller than existing technologies. Narayan says,

"Instead of making a chip that stores 20 gigabytes, you have one that can handle one terabyte, or 50 times more data."

This development is extremely exciting. If the research turns out to be scalable and mass-producible, then it could lead to the spread technical ceramics applications outside of areas like ceramic wear components and such.

Surfer Dude Saves Indonesian Town

Here’s a great story that involves surfers, earthquakes, and ceramic water filters. Jon Rose, a Long Beach, CA resident whose father, Jack Rose, has a non-profit called Rain Catcher. The non-profit helps to educate villagers in Africa about rainwater collection and filtration. The son had just launched Waves for Water, which follows a similar idea and applies it to popular surf regions.

Jon Rose had been surfing in Indonesia when a massive 7.6-on-the-Richter Scale earthquake struck on 30 September. Luckily, the surfer had stowed some ceramic clay water filters in his surf bag. Through immediate, attentive effort, Mr. Rose was able to provide filtration for the region, which has a population of over 750,000 residents. The earthquake had wiped out their previous water supply.

Maybe we should change the filter more frequently?

At our company, we drink tap water. Besides saving money, drinking tap money has been shown time and again to be as clean--if not cleaner--than bottled water. However, we noticed that our water was starting to taste a little bit off, so we examined the water filter. A ha! Take a look at this.
That cylinder on the top is the one that's been in (over)use, the one on the bottom is the replacement filter. The filters are made of ceramic. Ceramic makes an excellent water filter due to its density and porosity, both of which can be easily controlled. This particular filter features Sterasyl ceramic, which has a highly consistent and controlled pore structure, which can remove a wide range of water borne contaminants. They don’t restrict the flow of the water, and they make the water taste great, which means like nothing at all!

A New Report on the Market Outlook for Silicon Carbide

Silicon carbide (SiC), which is also known as carborundum, is a compound of silicon and carbon. It occurs in nature as the extremely rare mineral moissanite. It’s been used as an abrasive since 1893, and nowadays it is used in applications as various as car brakes and ceramic bulletproof vests to light-emitting diodes and radio detectors. SiC is also widely used in high-temperature semiconductor electronics, due to its amazing temperature-resistant properties.

There was a recent report from tech consultant Yole Développement outlining a curious absence of silicon carbide-based transistors, which was reporter in Semiconductor International. According to the report, the total market for SiC devices is $2.6 billion, more than 20% of the entire silicon-based power business in 2008. However, this share is expected to grow as various factors constraining SiC’s market penetration are overcome.

One factor slowing down SiC market penetration is its high cost. Low-voltage applications comprise the vast majority of SiC-based devices, which tend to have low margins. Medium-voltage (1.2 to 1.7 kV) applications are expected to increase over the next two to three years. High-voltage applications are expected to appear slowly beginning in 2013 or 2014 as technological improvements and cost reductions make SiC applications viable.

Total SiC substrate merchant market reached approximately $48 million in 2008, and it is expected to exceed $300 million during the decade. However, its relative share is looking like it will decrease. Currently, Chinese production companies are driving growth in the SiC transistor market. On the high end of projections, a yearly $800 million market can be expected for the SiC substrate transistor sector.

Zirconium: Not Just For Rings and Things

If you’ve ever watched a shop at home television channel or been in the market for inexpensive jewelry, then you’re probably familiar with cubic zirconia, the synthetic alternative to diamonds. According to Wikipedia, cubic zirconia has been the most “economically important competitor for diamonds since 1976.” More generally, though, zirconium is a chemical element (Zr) that is found in nature within the earth’s crust and sea water. Its applications are much wider-ranging than jewelry.

Zirconium’s global usage shows that it is predominantly used within the field of technical ceramics. For instance, 54% of China’s zirconium consumption goes towards ceramics. Zirconium is extremely hard, stable, and dense. It is overwhelmingly strong. Its fine grain size makes it perfect for creating sharp blades. Ceramic knives are one of the latest crazes in kitchenwares, for instance. In addition to sharpness, zirconium can be used to create porous ceramic filters and diffusers for washing and spraying functions. Its durability, density, and corrosion resistance allows it to be used in applications that require dealing with acids.

I stumbled across this page, which gives a lengthy overview of zirconium, from its global availability and application to end users and producers.

Zircon consumption, like that of most other commodities, has been hit by the global economic slowdown. However, supply (both existing and potential), too, appears to have been impacted equally, if not more, severely. Not only have a number of suppliers in both Africa and Australia (for example, Australian Zircon NL (Bloomberg Ticker—AZC:AU)) been facing financial challenges, with consequent decreases in production, but other producing countries have also been facing limitations on production. Indonesia, in particular, saw zircon production fall more than 40% in 2008 from the level in 2007.

In addition, Refractron has an excellent page about a special kind of zirconium, Yttria Tetragonal Zirconia Polycrystal (Y-TZP).

Y-TZP has a material density of greater than 6.0 g/cc, a maximum operating temperature of 2000 C. This material has the highest flexural strength of the zirconia materials particularly when processed using a HIP (Hot Isostat Press). Values are 900 MPa and 1400 MPa (HIP'd). The hardness is 13-13.5 GPa, Fracture Toughness is 8.0 MPa-m1/2 and Thermal expansion (C.T.E.) is 10.2 x E6/ degree C).

So the next time you’re up late and watching QVC shilling cubic zirconium rings, remember that what you’re actually seeing is a product related to technical ceramics.

A Neat Application of Porous Ceramics

Has your space ever been invaded by dust mites, mold, or moisture damage? Well, a Japanese company has created a product called the dehumEGGifier, which utilizes porous ceramics technology to reduce ambient humidity without the intrusion of a noisy, bulky dehumidifier.

The dehumEGGifier, as you can see above, is a rather small, egg-shaped device crafted out of a porous ceramic material that houses silica gel beads. As the silica gel beads absorb moisture through the porous shell, the blue base turns to pink. Once the base is pink, you are to micorwave the egg for about ten minutes, which will desiccate the beads readying the dehumEGGifier ready for re-use.

The dehumEGGifier seems to take advantage of a specific property of ceramics: Namely, that porous ceramics are generally made by fusing metal oxide grains using a porcelain bond, which reates a strong, uniformly porous and homogeneous structure. The resulting material is naturally hydrophilic (that is, having a natural tendency to mix with water), which results in an impressively even transmission of liquid. Porous ceramics--besides having applications in quirky Japanese consumer products--can be used for applications such as spraying, oven firing, and ultrasonic cleaning. For some more information about porous ceramics, check out this page on Refractron's website.

Dr. Harry L. Tuller, MIT professor, to give lecture at Alfred University

Tuller, who is a professor of ceramics and electronic materials in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering, and head of the Crystal Physics and Electroceramics Laboratory (what an elegant title!) at the MIT, will give a talk entitled “Electroceramics: Technology for the Future." His talk is scheduled for 11:20am on 22 October.

According to Alfred University, Professor Tuller's talk will center on,

what makes electroceramics particularly attractive and/or essential for insuring rapid progress in all of these areas, focusing on their high figures of merit in information and energy transduction and in their thermal, mechanical, and chemical stability. Examples are provided to illustrate where electroceramics are likely to play a particularly strategic role in the future.

It looks like an extremely interesting lecture. I hope to see you all there!

The 11 Best Ceramics Papers?

The American Ceramics Society is a great resource for information, news, and events concerning the modern technological deployment of ceramics. It has been around since 1898 and it boasts more than 9,500 scientists, engineers, researchers, manufacturers, plant personnel, educators, and others as its members.

Its website is a veritable hub of great information about technological developments and upcoming events in the ceramics community. But it’s not just the future it looks toward. It’s also a great resource for learning about ceramics. One great page of the site is its 11 Best Papers. It includes links to a .pdf of each paper. The bibliography covers topics ranging from the structure and stress resistance of glass to the future of diamond ceramic coating. The papers seem selected for their excellence and not necessarily their modern-day relevance as their dates of publication range from 1934 to 1993. It is, undoubtedly, a great resource, though, to get a good perspective on the history of advanced ceramics studies and an eye for where it’s heading.

1. B. E. Warren, “X-Ray Determination of the Structure of Glass,” J. Amer. Cer. Soc., 17 (12) 249-254 (1934).
2. W. D. Kingery, “Factors Affecting Thermal Stress Resistance of Ceramic Materials,” J. Amer. Cer. Soc., 38 (1) 3-15 (1955).
3. S. M. Wiederhorn, L. H. Bolz, “Stress Corrosion and Static Fatigue of Glass,” J. Amer. Cer. Soc., 53 (10) 543-548 (1970).
4. G. Anstis, P. Chantikul, B. Lawn, D. B. Marshall, “A Critical-Evaluation of Indentation Techniques for Measuring Fracture-Toughness .1. Direct Crack Measurements Materials,” J. Amer. Cer. Soc., 64 (9) 533-538 (1981).
5. D. R. Clarke, “On the Equilibrium Thickness of Intergranular Glass Phases in Ceramic Materials,” J. Amer. Cer. Soc., 70 (1) 15-22 (1987).
6. F. F. Lange, “Powder Processing Science and Technology for Increased Reliability,” J. Amer. Cer. Soc., 72 (1) 3-15 (1989).
7. K. E. Spear, “Diamond Ceramic Coating of the Future,” J. Amer. Cer. Soc., 72 (2) 171-191 (1989).
8. A. G. Evans, “Perspective on the Development of High-Toughness Ceramics,” J. Amer. Cer. Soc., 73 (2) 187-206 (1990).
9. P. F. Becher, “Microstructural Design of Toughened Ceramics,” J. Amer. Cer. Soc., 74 (2) 255-269 (1991).
10. L. L. Hench, “Bioceramics - From Concept to Clinic,” J. Amer. Cer. Soc., 74 (7) 1487-1510 (1991).
11. N. S. Jacobson, “Corrosion of Silicon-Based Ceramics in Combustion Environments,” J. Amer. Cer. Soc., 76 (1) 3-28 (1993).

How do you become a ceramics engineer?

When you think of ceramics, pottery and coffee mugs may be the first things that come to mind. But ceramics play a big role in industrial design and engineering. Ceramics engineering is actually a fast-growing, lucrative career field. Like most professional, technical careers, the best first step to becoming a ceramics engineer is by going to a ceramic engineering program. A ceramic engineering program can help to prepare you for the field, which is ever-changing and technically demanding. Ceramics play a primary role in the design of many products because the materials have the ability to increase or decrease magnetic, thermal, and electrical properties. This property of ceramics makes them incredibly valuable to the engineering process of millions of products. Ceramics are also low-cost compared to other common industrial materials.

Students in ceramic engineering programs have the opportunity to be part of a field that impacts environmental issues like recycling and energy conservation. They also learn basic science and engineering while simultaneously growing their analytical and computational skills.

In a ceramic engineering program, you will develop a comprehensive understanding of ceramic materials, including their behavior in different temperatures, their processing and structure, and their industrial applications. A good program will teach you about the mechanical properties of ceramic materials and their atomic scale properties. Many programs require students to take a certain number of elective courses outside the area of ceramics engineering, which broaden your educational horizons.

Ceramic engineers work with inorganic, nonmetallic materials to develop materials that support products and systems that impact all our lives. For instance, fiber optic materials are critical to the telecommunications industry, and cell phones would not be possible without the development of electronic ceramics.

While there are ceramic engineering programs at many colleges and universities, here are some notable programs to consider:

• Alfred University’s Ceramic Engineering Graduate Programs
• Penn State's Materials Science and Engineering Department
• Rutgers' Materials Science and Engineering Program
• and Clemson's Materials Science and Engineering Graduate Programs

And don't forget! If you're interested in ceramics engineering, don't miss out on the Dean of the NYS College of Ceramic's upcoming talk on glass.

Something To Do On A Thursday Night This Fall?

If you're going to be in upstate NY on September 10, you might want to drop by Alfred University for a talk by the dean of the New York State College of Ceramics, William LaCourse. He will be giving a lecture entitled, "Glass: Old Dog, New Tricks."

The lecture is slated to commence at 12:10 PM at the Powell Campus' Nevins Theatre. For more information, you should contact the New York State College of Ceramics at Alfred University.