1. Chapter Outline: Ceramics
Chapter 12: Structure and Properties of Ceramics
Crystal Structures
Silicate Ceramics
Imperfections in Ceramics
Carbon
Skip: – 12.11

2. Ceramics
keramikos - burnt stuff in Greek -properties achieved through high-temperature heat treatment (firing).
Usually metallic + non-metallic elements
Always composed of more than one element (e.g., Al2O3, NaCl, SiC, SiO2)
Bonds are partially or totally ionic
Hard and brittle
Electrical and thermal insulators
Optically opaque, semi-transparent, or transparent
Traditionally based on clay (china, bricks, tiles, porcelain) and glasses
“New ceramics” for electronic, computer, aerospace industries.

3. Bonding in Ceramics (Chapter 2)
Electronegativity – ability of atoms to accept electrons (subshells with one electron - low electronegativity; subshells with one missing electron -high electronegativity).
Electronegativity increases from left to right.
Bonding is mixed: ionic + covalent
Degree of ionic depends on difference in electronegativities Cations(+); Anions(-)

4. Crystal Structures: Predominantly Ionic
Crystal structure is defined by
Magnitude of electrical charge on each ion Charge balance dictates chemical formula (Ca2+ and F- form CaF2).
Relative sizes of cations and anions
Cations want maximum possible number of anion nearest neighbors and vice-versa.
Ceramic crystal structures: anions surrounding a cation are all in contact with it. For a specific coordination number there is a critical or minimum cation-anion radius ratio rC/rA for which this contact can be maintained

5. The critical ratio determined by geometrical analysis
C.N rC/rA Geometry
2 <0.155
The critical ratio determined by geometrical analysis
30°
Cos 30= 0.866
= R/(r+R) 
r/R = 0.155

6. Crystal Structures Rock Salt Structure
NaCl
rC = rNa = nm, rA = rCl = nm
 rC/rA = 0.56
From table for stable geometries: C.N. = 6
Two interpenetrating FCC lattices
NaCl, MgO, LiF, FeO have this crystal structure

7. Other crystal structures in ceramics
(will not be included in the test)
Cesium Chloride Structure:
rC = rCs = nm, rA = rCl = nm
 rC/rA = 0.94
From table for stable geometries: C.N. = 8
Structure: CsCl-type
Bravais lattice: simple cubic
Ions/unit cell: 1 Cs+ + 1Cl-

8. Other crystal structures in ceramics
(will not be included in the test)
Zinc Blende Structure: typical for compounds where covalent bonding dominates. C.N. = 4
ZnS, ZnTe, SiC have this crystal structure

9. Other crystal structures in ceramics
(will not be included in the test)
Fluorite (CaF2):
rC = rCa = nm, rA = rF = nm
 rC/rA = 0.75
From table for stable geometries: C.N. = 8
FCC structure with 3 atoms per lattice point

10. (similar to Chapter 3.5 for metals)  = n’(AC + AA) / (VcNA)
Density computation
(similar to Chapter 3.5 for metals)
 = n’(AC + AA) / (VcNA)
n’: number of formula units in unit cell (all ions included in chemical formula of compound = formula unit)
AC: sum of atomic weights of cations
AA: sum of atomic weights of anions
Vc: volume of the unit cell
NA: Avogadro’s number,
6.0231023 (formula units)/mol
Example: NaCl
n’ = 4 in FCC lattice
AC = ANa = g/mol
AA = ACl = g/mol
Vc = a3 = (2rNa+2rCl)3 =
(20.102 0.18110-7)3 cm3

11. Silicate Ceramics
Mainly of silicon and oxygen, the two most abundant elements in earth’s crust (rocks, soils, clays, sand)
Basic building block: SiO44- tetrahedron
Si-O bonding is largely covalent, but overall SiO4 block has charge of –4
Various silicate structures – different ways to arrange SiO4-4 blocks

12. Silica = silicon dioxide = SiO2
Every oxygen shared by adjacent tetrahedra
Silica is crystalline (quartz) or amorphous, as in glass (fused or vitreous silica)
3D network of SiO4 tetrahedra in cristobalite
High melting temperature of 1710 C

13. Window glasses
Common window glass is produced by adding oxides (e.g. CaO, Na2O) whose cations are incorporated within SiO4 network. The cations break the tetrahedral network. Glasses melt at lower temperature than pure amorphous SiO2.
Lower melting T makes it easier to form objects (e.g, bottles). Some other oxides (TiO2, Al2O3) substitute for silicon and become part of the network

14. Imperfections in Ceramics (I)
Point defects in ionic crystals are charged. Coulomb forces are large. Any charge imbalance has a strong tendency to balance itself. To maintain charge neutrality several point defects can be occur:
Frenkel defect: a pair of cation (positive ion) vacancies and a cation interstitial. Also be an anion (negative ion) vacancy and anion interstitial. Anions are larger than cations so not easy for an anion interstitial to form
Schottky defect is a pair of anion and cation vacancies
Schottky defect
Frenkel defect

15. Imperfections in Ceramics (II)
Frenkel and Schottky defects do not change ratio of cations to anions  compound is stoichiometric
Non-stoichiometry (composition deviates from the one predicted by chemical formula) occurs when one ion type can exist in two valence states, e.g. Fe2+, Fe3+
In FeO, Fe valence state is 2+.
Two Fe ions in 3+ state  an Fe vacancy is required to maintain charge neutrality
 fewer Fe ions  non-stoichiometry

16. Impurities in Ceramics
Impurity atoms can be substitutional or interstitials
Substitutional: substitute for ions of like type
Interstitials: small compared to host structure – formation of anion interstitials is unlikely
Solubilities higher if ion radii and charges match
Incorporation of ion with different charge state requires compensation by point defects
Interstitial impurity atom
Substitutional impurity ions

17. Mechanical Properties of Ceramics
Brittle Fracture stress concentrators are very important. (Chap. 8: measured fracture strengths are much smaller than theoretical due to stress risers) Fracture strength greatly enhanced by creating compressive stresses in the surface region (similar to shot peening, case hardening in metals, Chap. 8)
Compressive strength is typically ten times the tensile strength Therefore ceramics are good structural materials under compression (e.g., bricks in houses, stone blocks in the pyramids).

18. Plastic Deformation in Ceramics
Crystalline ceramics: Slip (dislocation motion) is difficult because ions of like charge have to be brought close together
 large barrier for dislocation motion In ceramics with covalent bonding slip is not easy (covalent bonds are strong)  ceramics are brittle.
Non-crystalline ceramic: no regular crystalline structure  no dislocations or slip. Materials deform by viscous flow (breaking and reforming bonds, allowing ions/atoms to slide past each other (like in a liquid)
Viscosity is a measure of glassy material’s resistance to deformation.
Viscosity is defined as the property of a fluid that resists flowing when subjected to an applied force. High-viscosity fluids resist flow; low-viscosity fluids flow easily. How readily a moving layer of fluid molecules drags adjacent layers of molecules along with it determines its viscosity.
The magnitude of the force necessary to maintain a velocity difference of 1 cm/sec between layers 1 cm apart determines the viscosity in poises.

19. Viscosity
Viscosity: measure of non-crystalline (glass or liquid) resistance to deformation. High-viscosity fluids resist flow; low-viscosity fluids flow easily.
How readily a moving layer of molecules drags adjacent layers of molecules along determines its viscosity.
Units are Pa-s, or Poises (P) 1 P = 0.1 Pa-s
Viscosity of water at room temp is ~ 10-3 P
Viscosity of typical glass at room temp >> 1016 P

20. Carbon Carbon not a ceramic
Exists in various polymorphic forms: sp3 diamond and amorphous carbon, sp2 graphite and fullerenes/nanotubes, one dimensional sp carbon

21. Figures from http://www.people.virginia.edu/~lz2n/Diamond.html
Carbon: Diamond
Diamond-cubic structure
One of the strongest/hardest materials
High thermal conductivity (unlike ceramics)
Transparent in visible and infrared, high index of refraction, looks nice, costs $$$
Semiconductor (can be doped to make electronic devices)
Metastable (transforms to carbon when heated)
Hydrogenated diamond {111} surface with the dangling bonds or radicals terminated by hydrogen atoms
Diamond turning into graphite at elevated temperature
Figures from

22. Carbon: Graphite
Layered structure: Strong bonding within planar layers. Weak, van der Waals bonding between layers
Easy interplanar cleavage, applications as a lubricant and for writing (pencils)
Good electrical conductor
Chemically stable even at high temperatures
Applications: furnaces, rocket nozzles, welding electrodes

23. Carbon: buckyballs and nanotubes
Buckminsterfullerenes (buckyballs) + carbon nanotubes expected to be important in future nanotechnology applications (nanoscale materials, sensors, machines, computers)
Carbon nanotube T-junction
Nanotubes as reinforcing
fibers in nanocomposites
Nano-gear
Nanotube holepunching/etching
Figures from

24. Summary Make sure you understand language and concepts: Anion Cation
Defect structure
Frenkel defect
Electroneutrality
Schottky defect
Stoichiometry
Viscosity