6 Popular Uses of Ceramic Materials in Our Daily Life

Ceramics come in many forms, and their applications are diverse. Broadly, they can be divided into traditional ceramics and advanced ceramics. Traditional ceramics are made from basic raw materials like clay, silica, and feldspar. Examples include bricks, tiles, and porcelain. Advanced ceramics are made from very pure compounds, such as aluminum oxide (Al2O3), silicon nitride (Si3N4), and silicon carbide (SiC). They are used in electronics, engineering components, and other specialized applications. Ceramics play an essential role in both industry and everyday life. Here are six common uses of ceramics, covering traditional and advanced applications, with some modern examples included.

1. Glasses

Glasses constitute a major application of ceramic materials in our daily life. Starting from windows, glass containers, mirrors, and lenses to glass mugs and decorations, glasses are a common group of ceramics, and they offer many benefits known to man. Glasses are typically non-crystalline silicates that contain other oxides, such as calcium oxide, sodium oxide, potassium oxide, and aluminum oxide. These components influence the properties and color of the glass.

Glass-ceramics are typically polycrystalline materials manufactured by controlled crystallization of base glass. There are different types of ceramic glasses, from the glass jars in your kitchen to the bottles holding your drugs; you’ll find a wide variation in the use of ceramics as glasses in your home. They are also applied in stovetops, laboratory glassware, fiber optic components, and smartphone screens.

2. Refractories

Another common application of ceramics is in refractories. These are ceramic materials designed to withstand extreme temperatures (typically above 1,000°F), which are found in modern manufacturing. Refractories serve as heat-resistant insulators lining the hot surfaces found in a number of industrial processes. Refractories can withstand these very high temperatures without melting or decomposing. Besides, they are inert in such environments, meaning that they will not interact with the reacting components.

Refractories are made from both natural and synthetic materials. This can be nonmetallic or a combination of different substances, such as alumina, bauxite, dolomite, magnesite, silicon carbide, zirconia, etc. Generally, refractories are classified into two broad categories: preformed shapes (also known as specialty and monolithic refractories) and refractory ceramic fibers. The refractory ceramic fibers are similar to residential insulation. However, they insulate at relatively higher temperatures. They are also widely used in furnace linings, high-temperature kilns, crucibles, and thermal barrier coatings in industrial equipment.

3. Abrasive Ceramics

As the name implies, abrasives are hard substances used in handling or cutting out other softer materials. Common examples of abrasive ceramics are diamond, silicon carbide, tungsten carbide, silica sand, aluminum oxide, etc. They also have refractory properties, which make them resistant to extreme situations, such as high temperatures. Abrasive ceramics are tough and have high wear resistance. These materials are used in grinding wheels, cutting tools, sandblasting, and precision polishing for metal, glass, and semiconductor industries.

4. Clay Products

Clay products can be any of the following and even more: porcelain, pottery, chinaware, roofing tiles, fired bricks, terra-cotta, brick veneer, sculptured brick, and sewer pipes. There are mainly two kinds. All these are broadly classified into two kinds of clay products: structural products and whiteware. They are increasingly used in decorative tiles, modern kitchenware, designer pottery, and architectural art installations.

5. Cement

Cements are a category of ceramic applications that encompass products with elements of cement, such as limestone, plaster of Paris (PoP), and actual cement. Cement is known to form slurries, which quickly solidify when mixed with water. This means that any shape can be formed from cement. The materials are typically also utilized to bond construction bricks. Note that concrete is not exactly ceramic since it is a combination of sand and cement. The mixture only solidifies upon the addition of water; the cement reacts, forming a ceramic-like structure that holds the composite particles together. The strength of the concrete is gained from a reaction between the water and the cement. Modern cement-based ceramics are used in precast concrete panels, lightweight composites, and sustainable green building materials.

6. Advanced Ceramics

Other than traditional ceramics, what we have are advanced ceramics, which have been manufactured for specific applications. Advanced ceramics are usually explored for their electrical, magnetic, and optical properties. They are used in heat engines, nuclear reactors, armor plates, and electronic packaging. Examples of advanced ceramic materials include titanium oxide (TiO2), titanium boride (TiB2), uranium oxide (UO2), diamond, aluminum nitride (AlN), yttrium aluminum garnet (YAG, Y3Al5O12), zirconia (ZrO2), silica (SiO2), silicon carbide (SiC), aluminum oxide, etc.

There are several other applications of ceramics in daily life. Ceramics continue to serve as essential raw materials in manufacturing industries and a wide range of domestic fabrication processes. They are used in electronic substrates, dental implants, LED lights, smartphone components, high-precision sensors, and other specialized industrial equipment.

ACM, as a leading ceramic manufacturer, provides these advanced ceramic materials to support both industrial and technological applications.