The Advanced Ceramics Research Group focus on the processing, properties and characterisation of advanced engineering ceramic materials, with projects ranging from aerospace heat shielding, ceramic automotive braking systems through to better processing methods for nanoceramic particles.
Advanced ceramics are the active material underpinning most electronics devices, fuel cells, sensors and biomaterials, as well as magnets, wear and structural parts, cutting tools and substrates.
According to the Advanced Ceramics Technology Roadmap produced by the US Advanced Ceramics Assoc. & US Dept. of Energy in 2000, they have
“an especially high potential to resolve a wide number of today’s material challenges in process industries, power generation, aerospace, transportation and military applications. Such applications are vital to maintaining global competitiveness, decreasing energy consumption and minimising pollution”.
Whilst the world market is difficult to estimate, it is many hundreds of billions of pounds per annum. The focus of the research undertaken by the Advanced Ceramics group is the generation of both the necessary scientific understanding and the required engineering solutions for the development of process routes that display technical and/or economic advantages over existing techniques and which yield new or improved ceramic-based materials. The range of products worked on is wide, from nanostructured to traditional ceramics and includes ceramic foams and composites.
Highlighted Projects
- Processing of nanostructured ceramics
- Processing of interpenetrating ceramic-metal composites
- Processing of ultra high temperature ceramic (UHTC) composites
- Carbon fibre reinforced ceramic composites for friction brake applications
- Understanding and improving ceramic armour materials
Academic Staff
- Professor Jon Binner
- Dr Bala Vaidhyanathan
- Dr Houzheng Wu
- Dr Xujin Bao