Introduction to ceramics: Properties, processing and applications

Ceramics are one of the most diverse material classes in the world. With origins in basic pottery, dating back more than 20,000 years, dramatic advances in their properties and their applications have been made over the past century. This unit will provide an introduction to ceramics for engineering. In the contexts of traditional and modern ceramics, you will learn about their history, their general compositions and how these impact the resulting structural, mechanical, optical, thermal and electrical properties. The dependence of these properties on their manufacturing processes will be discussed. This will enable an understanding of why and how such ceramics are used in applications that are well established, such as concrete and glass, and those that are emerging, like fuel cells and photovoltaics.