CERAMIC

AND ITS

STRUCTURE

Presented by
Dibyajyoti Barik
Msc 2nd Year
Regd No-
Contents

 What is Ceramic

 Bonding in ceramic

 Structure of Ceramic

 Properties and

Applications
What is Ceramic
 Ceramic material are inorganic , non-metallic materials
made from compound from metal and non-metal .
 They are generally made from clay , sand and earthen
materials and water , by mixing these raw materials then
after shaping it ,then sending it into a hot furnace called a
kiln .
 They are basically made by application of heat and
subsequent cooling it from a high temperature .

( Firing Kiln )
Bonding in Ceramic
 There are mainly two types of bond found in ceramic , ionic and covalent .
 The ionic bond occurs between a metal and a nonmetal, in other words, two
elements with very different electronegativity.
 In an ionic bond, one of the atoms (the metal) transfers electrons to the other atom
(the nonmetal), thus becoming positively charged (cation), whereas the nonmetal
becomes negatively charged (anion). The two ions having opposite charges attract
each other with a strong electrostatic force.
 Covalent bonding instead occurs between two nonmetals, in other words two atoms
that have similar electronegativity, and involves the sharing of electron pairs
between the two atoms.

Example of Ceramic where Covalent bond is present include SiC , BN ,

Diamond etc .
Structure of Ceramic Radius ratio :- The ratio of the radius of a cation to the
radius of an anion in an ionic compound.
 Since, bonding in ceramics is predominantly ionic; it consists
of anions and cations.
 The crystal structure of ceramics is influenced by the radius
ratio of the compound. The coordination number depends
on the radius ratio.
 So the structure of ceramics varies with the coordination
number.
 Some of the examples of ceramics with different structure
are as follows -

Silicate Ceramic

Ceramic with Rock Salt

structure

Ceramic with Fluorite

Structure

Ceramics
with perovskite structure
Silicate Ceramic
 Silicate ceramics are a type of ceramic material primarily composed of silicate
compounds, which are chemical compounds containing primarily silicon, oxygen .
 The silicate are complex network solids having silicate ion (SiO4) 4- as the basic structural
unit.
 The silicate ion has a tetrahedral structure, where each atom of silicon is bonded to four
oxygen atoms, which are situated at the corner of the tetrahedron; the silicon atom is
present at the center.
 The silicates have been classified on the manner in which the (SiO4) 4- tetrahedral are
linked together via oxygen such as
 Pyrosilicate :–when an oxygen atom is shared by two SiO 4 tetrahedra the pyrosilicate
ion is formed .For example Sc 2(Si2O7)
 Orthosilicate :-The Orthosilicate contain the simple orthosilicate ion (SiO4) 4- in which
oxygen atoms are bonded to associated metal ions. Examples of this type of minerals
are ZrSiO4 , Ba2SiO4 .
 Three dimensional silicates :- If all the four oxygen atoms are shared with other
tetrahedral, three dimensional network structures are obtained. Quartz, tridymite are
examples of such silicate .
 Sheet silicates :- The sharing of three oxygen of each tetrahedron results in an infinite
two dimensional sheet structure of the formula (Si 2O5)2n- or Si2O5)n2n-. Clay is an example Crystobalite
of this type .
Properties and
Application
 High Temperature Resistance : Silicate ceramics can
withstand extremely high temperatures without degrading, which
makes them ideal for applications like kiln linings, heat
exchangers, and furnace components.
 Electrical Insulation : Many silicate ceramics, like porcelain,
are good electrical insulators, which is why they are often used in
electrical components like insulators, capacitors, and other ZrSiO4 Crystal Quartz
devices that need to resist electrical conductivity. structure
 Chemical Durability : They tend to be highly resistant to
chemical attack, which is why they’re used in environments
where materials might be exposed to aggressive chemicals .

Muscovite MIca
Ceramics with Rock salt structure
 Ceramics with a rock salt structure are materials that adopt the same crystal
structure as NaCl (sodium chloride), which is commonly referred to as the rock salt
structure.
 This structure is one of the most common ionic crystal structures
 The rock salt structure has a face-centered cubic (FCC) unit cell, meaning the ions
are arranged at the corners and the centers of each face of the cube. This structure
is highly symmetrical and efficient in packing.
 Each ion is surrounded by six oppositely charged ions, forming an octahedral
arrangement. This gives a coordination number of 6 for both cations and anions.
 Ex:- MgO , LiCl , NiO they adopt rock salt structure .

Properties
 High Melting Point : These materials tend to have a high melting point due to the
strong ionic bonding between the cations and anions.
 Electrical Insulation: The ionic nature of these ceramics makes them good
insulators of electricity under normal conditions, as the ions are fixed in place and
cannot move freely to conduct electricity.

Applications
 Refractories (MgO) \
 Battery Technology (LiCl)
 Dielectric Materials (CaF2)
Ceramics with Fluorite structure
 Ceramics with a fluorite structure have a crystal structure similar to that of fluorite
(CaF₂), where calcium ions (Ca²⁺) occupy the face-centered cubic (FCC) lattice
positions, and fluoride ions (F⁻) occupy the tetrahedral interstitial sites.
 The coordination number of Ca is 8 and that of F is 4.
 This arrangement is notable for its high symmetry and the ability to accommodate a
variety of cations, which makes the structure versatile for a range of materials with
different compositions.
 Examples include Zirconia (ZrO2) , Thorium dioxide (ThO2) , Uranium dioxide (UO2)

Properties and Applications :-

 Ionic conductivity : Due to the open structure, fluorite-type ceramics can exhibit

high ionic conductivity, which makes them useful in applications like solid oxide fuel
cells (SOFCs)
Fluorite Structure
 Thermal properties : High thermal stability and the ability to operate at elevated
temperatures make fluorite-type ceramics useful in high-performance environments.
Ceramics with perovskite structure
The name perovskite comes
 There are some ceramics with more than one type of cation, from the name of its
for two types of cations (A and B), the chemical formula may originator, Von Perovski.
be designated as ABXy. When two metals differ widely in
size, the result is a perovskite structure
 This structure is named after the mineral perovskite (CaTiO₃)
 It has a face centered cubic array of Ca and O with Ti4+
occupying at the cube center (one quarter of the octahedral
holes).
 Coordination number of Ca is 12 and that of other two
elements Ti and O is 6.
 Examples include barium titanate (BaTiO3), magnesium
titanate (MgTiO4), strontium zirconium oxide (SrZrO3),
strontium tin oxide (SrSnO3) etc .

Properties and Applications

 Perovskite ceramics are known for their diverse electrical
properties, which can include ferroelectricity,
piezoelectricity, and high-temperature superconductivity
(like in the case of certain cuprate perovskites).
 The substitution of barium in place of calcium result in a very
Perovskite Structure
important ceramic BaTiO3, which finds application in radios,
televisions etc. due to high value of dielectric constant.
THANK YOU!
“Life is just like potter’s clay , it gets shaped by
our own hand “