AMERICAN CERAMIC SOCIETY bulletin emerging ceramics & glass technology AUGUST 2017 Reaction-bonded boron carbide for lightweight armor Annual commodity summary | Big data meets material science | German ceramic R&D update NEXT GENERATION CERAMICS FOR ARMOR AND DEFENSE Learn more at coorstek.com COORSTEK © 2017 02442 A contents feature articles cover story August 2017 • Vol. 96 No.6 Reaction-bonded boron carbide 20 for lightweight armor: The inter27 relationship between processing, microstructure, and mechanical properties With adequate understanding of processing parameters and resulting material properties, reaction bonding offers a relatively inexpensive alternative fabrication method for lightweight ceramic armor. by Shmuel Hayun Annual commodity summary indicates modest growth, incredible potential Salient statistics and trends from the United States Geological Survey Mineral Commodity Summaries 2017. by April Gocha 36 40 Future of high-performance ceramics-The German perspective German academic, government, and industry experts prioritized five core applications for ceramic R&D in a roadmap and follow-up study. by Wolfgang Rossner Big data meets materials science: Training the future generation Capitalizing on the promise of \"big data\" will require materials scientists who are trained in data informatics. Several universities are answering the call. by Elizabeth Dickey and Greer Arthur 30 Boron carbide-based armors: Problems and possible solutions A critical assessment of recent advances in understanding of the nature and possible root causes of shear-induced amorphization in boron carbide for lightweight armor applications. by Atta U. Khan, Vladislav Domnich, and Richard A. Haber On the cover A shattered BorLite reaction-bonded boron carbide armor plate, manufactured by Paxis Ltd. (Savion, Israel), after impact with 7.62X63 AP M2 projectiles. For more information, contact Itzhak Mutzary, CEO of Paxis, at Itzhakm@paxisceramics.com. departments columns meetings News & Trends . 4 Business and Market View .. 12 Transparent ceramics PACRIM12 recap 45 Spotlight 7 CEX 2017 recap. 46 Ceramics in Energy 13 Research Briefs 16 by Margareth Gagliardi Deciphering the Discipline . . . 56 Geopolymers as alternative cements by Kaushik Sankar MS&T17 48 Sintering 2017 50 MS&T Change is coming...turn to page 3 for a special message from the leaders of ACerS, AIST, and TMS about MS&T! resources New Products.. Calendar 51 52 Classified Advertising 53 Display Ad Index.. 55 1 AMERICAN CERAMIC SOCIETY Obulletin Editorial and Production Eileen De Guire, Editor ph: 614-794-5828 fx: 614-794-5815 edeguire@ceramics.org April Gocha, Managing Editor Faye Oney, Assistant Editor Russell Jordan, Contributing Editor Tess Speakman, Graphic Designer Editorial Advisory Board Thomas Fischer, University of Cologne, Germany John McCloy, Chair, Washington State University Fei Peng, Clemson University Klaus-Markus Peters, Fireline Inc. 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Subscribe to our e-newsletter, Ceramic Tech Today, and recieve the latest ceramics, glass, and Society news straight to your inbox every Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday! Sign up at http://bit.ly/acersctt. Reach the summit with ACerS The American Ceramic Society ACerS keeps you connected to the industry\'s latest news and trends-and connected to a network of 7,500 experts, practitioners, business leaders, and decision makers-the most comprehensive in the industry. Visit www.ceramics.org to learn how ACerS can help you every step of the way. C The above image shows ACerS Fellow Ivar Reimanis on Mt. Denali in May 2016. ceramics Does the image look familiar? You may have spotted expo it in the ACers booth at Ceramics Expo 2017. Turn to page 46 for a full recap of the show! American Ceramic Society Bulletin covers news and activities of the Society and its members, includes items of interest to the ceramics community, and provides the most current information concerning all aspects of ceramic technology, including R&D, manufacturing, engineering, and marketing. American Ceramic Society Bulletin (ISSN No. 0002-7812). ©2015. Printed in the United States of America. ACerS Bulletin is published monthly, except for February, July, and November, as a \"dual-media\" magazine in print and electronic formats (www.ceramicbulletin.org). Editorial and Subscription Offices: 600 North Cleveland Avenue, Suite 210, Westerville, OH 43082-6920. Subscription included with The American Ceramic Society membership. Nonmember print subscription rates, including online access: United States and Canada, 1 year $135; international, 1 year $150.* Rates include shipping charges. 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All feature articles are covered in Current Contents. 2 www.ceramics.org | American Ceramic Society Bulletin, Vol. 96, No. 6 A message from the leaders of ACerS, AIST, and TMS about MS&T Greetings to all ACerS, AIST, and TMS members: We want to share with you that change is coming to the annual technical meeting and exhibition series, MS&T (Materials Science & Technology). You know this industry-leading event as a unique collaboration between The American Ceramic Society; ASM International; the Association for Iron and Steel Technology; and The Minerals, Metals & Materials Society. The change is that ASM will leave the partnership as of MS&T20. We know this development likely leaves you with questions, and we\'d like to take a moment to assure you that MS&T\'s future as the leading materials science and engineering conference is brighter than ever. First, we thank ASM for its past and still-to-be realized contributions to MS&T, as they will indeed remain a full partner of the event until 2020. Second, we confirm that MS&T will continue well beyond 2020 to serve the entire materials science and engineering community. The partners see the long-term future of the New MS&T as remarkably bright, shining with collaboration, cooperation, and your participation. Third, we will utilize this opportunity to expand the meeting\'s traditional open platform that welcomes contributions addressing all materials, inclusive of theoretical as well as characterization and manufacturing technologies. The New MS&T also will emphasize emerging as well as cross-cutting materials science and technology. We envision opportunities for interdisciplinary programming and working with more communities and more societies, such as our current collaborations with the National Association of Corrosion Engineers (NACE) and the Metallurgy and Materials Society (MetSoc) of the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum. Fourth, the New MS&T expands beyond the sum of our parts. We will take steps to accentuate individual society contributions to the meeting. Symposia organized by ACerS, AIST, and TMS will be labelled as such, and symposia organized collaboratively by two or more societies will be collaboratively branded. The New MS&T will be stronger as each society displays a unique presence and identity for its member community. These new contributions will include the \"new\" ACerS Annual Meeting, the AIST Advanced Steel Properties & Applications Forum, the TMS Fall Meeting, and additional interdisciplinary MS&T programming. Fifth, the New MS&T will be about more than programming. MS&T is historically the conference home of the Material Advantage student program and its key annual events. As such, Material Advantage will feature strongly in the New MS&T, and we will continue to make the experience essential for undergraduates and graduates alike while seeking to expand our portfolio of career-development opportunities. Finally, we also recognize the importance of industrial engagement at the New MS&T, and we are in the midst of developing new strategies to expand the exhibition floor, providing greater value to exhibitors and a quality experience for attendees. We hope that you can sense our excitement about the new opportunities for MS&T in the years ahead. Emphasizing our diversity as societies— and as individual members, scientists, and engineers—it is also our combined strengths that will transform MS&T to be an inclusive experience for the global materials science and technology community. On behalf of our materials science and technology community, belee William E. Lee (ACerS President) clue Sh Charlie Spahr (ACers Executive Director) P.S. to our ACerS members, Randy Mary Randy C. Skagen (AIST President) D D David H. DeYoung (TMS President) Polnis Стеля я! Сминт . . Jame J. Ronald E. Ashburn (AIST Executive Director) The New MS&T offers a great opportunity for ACerS divisions to expand their participation and gain greater visibility at MS&T. Watch the ACers Bulletin and Ceramic Tech Today for more information in the coming months. See you at MS&T! Bill Lee James J. Robinson (TMS Executive Director) MS&T MATERIALS SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY news & trends Apple\'s investment in Corning is investment in US manufacturing Apple\'s latest announcement of its $200 million investment in Corning\'s manufacturing facility in Harrodsburg, Ky., solidified its commitment to manufacturing in the United States. The Harrodsburg plant has been churning out screens made of Gorilla Glass for Apple iPhones since 2007. And although a majority of Gorilla Glass is made overseas near Apple\'s other suppliers, the Harrodsburg facility is where Corning\'s researchers develop and finetune their ideas and processes. \"This partnership started 10 years ago with the very first iPhone, and today every customer that buys an iPhone or iPad anywhere in the world touches glass that was developed in America,” Apple\'s COO Jeff Williams states in a company press release. Apple\'s recent announcement of a multimillion-dollar investment in Corning\'s glass R&D is a welcome sign for U.S. manufacturing. Credit: Kārlis Dambrāns; Flickr CC BY 2.0 The partnership may have begun in 2007, but Apple, like a wayward boyfriend, had a brief relationship a few years ago when it inked a deal with sapphire manufacturer GT Advanced Technologies (GTAT). GTAT contracted with Apple to make sapphire screens for Apple\'s products. After that relationship soured, Apple appears to have put a ring on Corning\'s finger with its $200 million investment. Now that is commitment. \"A chapter that will not only enable next-generation mobile consumer electronics, but also sustain and create high-value manufacturing jobs,” Corning CEO Wendell Weeks said in his company\'s press release. Corning is sitting pretty well in this relationship. They hold the intellectual Business news Nano Dimension and Semplastics to build 3-D low-density and high-thickness ceramics (www.nano-di.com)...Guardian Glass selects Carleton, Mich. site for new jumbo coater (www.guardianglass. com)...DOE announces $15.8M investment for innovation in hydrogen and fuel cell technologies (www.energy. gov)...Through first four months, glass imports and exports go opposite ways (www.usglassmag.com)... IBM research alliance builds new transistor for 5 nm technology (www.prnewswire.com)... China National Building Material to turn Hong Kong\'s China Glass into global giant (www.scmp.com)...Toshiba Materials and Kyocera to collaborate on nitride ceramic components (www.toshiba-tmat .co.jp/eng)...Corning to invest in additional manufacturing in Hefei (www. corning.com)...Asahi India Glass to invest Rs 500 cr on new plant in Gujarat (www. aisglass.com)...Xaar\'s technologies property, patents, and most important, a research team for its signature product: Gorilla Glass-something Apple needs to make its signature product, the iPhone. \"Corning\'s longstanding relationship with Apple...has also helped create nearly 1,000 American jobs and allowed us to continue growing and expanding in the U.S.,\" Weeks added in the release. \"This investment will ensure our plant in Harrodsburg remains a global center of excellence for glass technology.\" A Lexington Herald article from 2012 mentioned Corning was adding 80 jobs at $25/hour back then. It would be an added bonus if Apple\'s latest investment resulted in more jobs in this rural town of 8,300+. to drive business growth for ceramic tile manufacturers (www.xaar.com)… Saint-Gobain invests in continuity of its plants and jobs in France with new float glass line (www.saint-gobain.com)... University of Waterloo lab will help shape the future of industrial 3-D printing (https://uwaterloo.ca)...Kyocera receives class Y certification for semiconductor assembly services (https://americas. kyocera.com)...DOE advances $32M in funding for advanced technologies (www. energy.gov)...Heraeus 3-D-printed steering shaft bearing reduces weight by as much as 50% (www.heraeus. com)...AGC begins mass production of 3-D curved cover glass for carmounted displays (www.prnewswire. com)...POSCO completes construction of new steel forming laboratory (http:// globalblog.posco.com)...JEOL introduces world\'s fastest direct write electron beam tool (www.jeolusa.com) 4 www.ceramics.org | American Ceramic Society Bulletin, Vol. 96, No. 6 Essential Phone joins list of smartphones featuring ceramic exteriors At the Consumer Electronics Show earlier this year, electronics giant Xiaomi unveiled its new Mi Mix, the first smartphone with an all ceramic body made of microcrystal zirconium oxide. Although it turned heads because it was sleek, scratchresistant, and ultimately different, consumers were not satisfied with the phone\'s propensity to crack when dropped. And then there are the rumors about the upcoming Apple iPhone 8-will it or will it not be made of ceramic? Or will it feature an all-glass body instead? The rumors are sure to continue swirling until its release later this year. As authors Arun Varshneya and Peter Bihuniak wrote in a feature article in the June/July 2017 issue of the ACerS Bulletin, consumer aesthetic preferences seem to be winning out over functionality when it comes to smartphone design. They were specifically discussing smartphone screens, but we might soon add smartphone bodies to that discussion if the ceramic trend continues. Which it seems to be doing, at least for now-another smartphone is about to enter the market that again features a ceramic exterior. However, this device is the debut from an entirely new company called Essential. Essential\'s new smartphone, called simply Phone, is creating quite the stir for a first product offering from a company a tiny fraction of the size of the giants that currently dominate that massive smartphone market. But that is because the guy behind Essential, Andy Rubin, is the architect of Android. Essential\'s startup status could be part of the draw-the company can do things with its Phone that the bigger guys cannot (or will not) try, because the company is not concerned with being able to supply millions and millions of devices to a new-device-hungry world. \"For Apple, Samsung, and even LG, Made In Montana ⚫ Sold to the World AMERICAN chemel CORPORATION Give Ceramists Something to Think About CUPRIC OXIDE • Blue and Red Glazes and Glass • Ferrites CUPROUS OXIDE • Blue Glass and Glaze • Brick Colorants and Ferrites COPPER GRANULES • Iron Spot Brick ZINC OXIDES • For Ferrite, Brick, Fibre Glass Copper and Zinc Oxides for Ferrites Copper, Brass, Bronze and Tin Powders Plants in Montana and Tennessee • Stock Available Worldwide AMERICAN CHEMET CORPORATION 740 Waukegan Road, Suite 202 Deerfield, Illinois 60015 USA +1 847 948 0800 www.chemet.com Sales@chemet.com American Ceramic Society Bulletin, Vol. 96, No. 6 | www.ceramics.org 5 6 Onews & trends crafting a ceramic phone is a pointless adventure that would cost way too much to pursue, owing to their decision-making hierarchies and processes,\" author Vlad Savov writes in a story on The Verge. \"But for a small outfit like Rubin\'s Essential, it can be a passionate project of refinement that ends up delivering a number of desirable intangibles for the consumer.\" While the details are scant so far, Essential\'s Phone will reportedly have a ceramic back, a Corning Gorilla Glass 5 cover screen that slightly curves onto the edges (like the current Apple iPhone), and a titanium frame to protect its edges. According to Essential\'s website, its titanium frame provides significant protection when the phone is dropped, a necessity that was missing for Xiaomi\'s sleek ceramic body. \"When performing a corner drop test on solid concrete, the Essential Phone\'s titanium enclosure survived the fall without blemish, unlike the aluminum competitor devices,\" Essential\'s website states. Of course, that statement only indicates that the titanium survived without blemish, not the ceramic or glass materials on either side. Nonetheless, we know that Gorilla Glass 5 is Corning\'s strongest formulation yet. Although Essential touts the sensations and feeling of the Phone\'s ceramic back, the company has provided little detail on what ceramic it actually is or how it is manufactured. The only technical details Essential provides are saying that the ceramic was a challenge to incorporate into the Phone because the material shrinks 25% when fired. \"We spent months and months, but we eventually honed in on a process that allowed us to get cost down to the point where it\'s both feasible and flawless.\" Essential\'s new smartphone, called simple Phone, is the latest personal electronic device to feature a hard ceramic exterior. Corporate Partner news Lithoz America brings ceramic additive manufacturing to New York Lithoz celebrated the opening of its first subsidiary, Lithoz America LLC, on May 3 at the Rensselaer Technology Park in Troy, N.Y. Lithoz America vice president Shawn Allan, along with Lithoz GmbH (Vienna, Austria) CEO Johannes Homa and CTO Johannes Benedikt, welcomed more than 50 guests from around the northeast region at the 3,000 ft² newly renovated facility. A Lithoz CeraFab 7500 stereolithography printer demonstrated printing of alumina bone screws during the party, providing an introduction to the process. Lithoz develops and produces machines, (Left to right) Lithoz America vice president Shawn Allan and Lithoz GmbH CEO Johannes Homa and CTO Johannes Benedikt celebrate the opening of Lithoz America LLC at the Rensselaer Technology Park in Troy, N.Y. Credit: Lithoz software, and materials for additive manufacturing of high quality advanced ceramics including alumina, zirconia, silicon nitride, biomedical ceramics, and ceramic cores for investment casting. Lithoz America provides materials and product development, materials production, and Lithoz CeraFab systems sales and support for additive manufacturing of ceramics in the United States and Canada. Applied Ceramics launches \'e-Applied Ceramics\' project Applied Ceramics (Fremont, Calif.) has launched a new project, \"e-Applied Ceramics,\" that will stimulate the company\'s development, growth, and competitive advantage as e-Applied Ceramics a significant business in Croatia\'s industrial market, further complementing its competitive place within the European Union marketplace. The primary objective of the project is to invest in advanced information communications technology solutions and equipment that will accelerate its business and production processes. Achieving the objective and implementing the \"e-Applied Ceramics\" project will increase sales of Applied Ceramics by the end of 2019 and open new jobs in the production and processing of high quality semiconductor components at unprecedented levels. \"It empowers individuals to \'vote with their wallet\' to directly fund renewable energy research and lay the foundation of the energy economy of tomorrow,\" she adds. Learn more at www.appliedceramics.net. www.ceramics.org | American Ceramic Society Bulletin, Vol. 96, No. 6 Credit: Essential Credit: Institute of Energy and Climate Research, Materials Synthesis and Processing acers spotlight Society and Division news ACerS approves new India and Italy chapters ACerS board of directors approved the establishment of two new international chapters at its May meeting. The Society welcomes founding members of the India and Italy chapters! They join the U.K. Chapter in representing ACerS members around the world. The India Chapter is headquartered in Greater Noida, Uttar Pradesh, and Lalit Kumar Sharma serves as chair. The Italy Chapter is headquartered in Torino, and is cochaired by Monica Ferraris and Paolo Colombo. To better serve its international members, ACerS supports the formation of international chapters when requested by members in regions or localities outside of the U.S. where concentrations of ACerS members reside. ACerS international chapters work cooperatively with national and regional ceramic, glass, and materials societies to further promote the local and regional ceramics and glass community. In addition to regular ACerS member benefits, members of international chapters have access to programming and networking opportunities with other local and regional ACerS members. Each chapter holds at least two technical, educational, or professional events per year. For more information regarding ACerS international chapters, contact Belinda Raines, outreach manager, at braines@ceramics.org. Names in the News Vaẞen inducted into ASM Thermal Spray Society Hall of Fame Robert Vaßen, Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH, IEK-1, was inducted into the ASM Thermal Spray Society Hall of Fame at the International Thermal Spray Conference in Dusseldorf, Germany, on June 8, 2017. Vaßen was recognized for his thermal spray developments for applications in solid oxide fuel cell materials and thermal barrier coatings for gas turbines, as well as mentoring and training highly skilled professionals. | Robert Vaẞen (left). Your kiln. Like no other. Your kiln needs are unique, and Harrop responds with engineered solutions to meet your exact firing requirements. For more than 90 years, we have been supplying custom kilns across a wide range of both traditional and advanced ceramic markets. Hundreds of our clients will tell you that our three-phase application engineering process is what separates Harrop from \"cookie cutter\" kiln suppliers. • • Thorough technical and economic analysis to create the \"right\"kiln for your specific needs Robust, industrial design and construction • After-sale service for commissioning and operator training. Harrop\'s experienced staff is exceptionally qualified to become your partners in providing the kiln most appropriate to your application. Learn more at www.harropusa.com, or call us at 614-231-3621 to discuss your special requirements. American Ceramic Society Bulletin, Vol. 96, No. 6 | www.ceramics.org HARROP Fire our imagination www.harropusa.com 7 acers spotlight Society and Division news (continued) Aldo Boccaccini, (center) with Ilka Parchmann, (left), vice president of Christian-Albrechts University of Kiel and Rainer Adelung, (right), KiNSIS. Boccaccini awarded DielsPlanck-Lecture 2017 Aldo R. Boccaccini, head of the Institute of Biomaterials, University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, Germany, was awarded the Diels-Planck-Lecture 2017. The annual award is presented by the Kiel Nano, Surface and Interface Science (KiNSIS) forum. Boccaccini delivered the lecture \"Bioactive Materials and Biofabrication for Regenerating Tissues: Progress and Challenges\" on June 7 at the 3rd European Symposium on Intelligent Materials in Kiel. Yury Gogotsi (center) is installed as Charles T. and Ruth M. Bach Professor. Gogotsi installed as inaugural Charles T. and Ruth M. Bach Professor Yury Gogotsi was installed as Distinguished University and Charles T. and Ruth M. Bach Professor at Drexel University on May 1. The $2.2M endowed professorship will be used to fund his current and future research. 8 Credit: Aldo Boccaccini Credit: Drexel University Gogotsi was instrumental in developing MXenes (a new family of 2-D materials) and other new nanomaterials that his group is developing for energy, water, and health applications. Quirmbach receives honorary doctorate Peter Quirmbach, professor of technical chemistry and corrosive science at the University of KoblenzLandau, was awarded an honorary doctorate from the TU Bergakademie Freiberg, Germany. He is honorary professor at the university, CEO of the German Institute for Refractory and Ceramics, and head of the Technical Quirmbach Awards and deadlines Upcoming nomination deadlines August 15, 2017 Engineering Ceramics Division secretary: Nominees will be presented for approval at the ECD annual business meeting at MS&T17 and included on ACerS spring 2018 division officer ballot. Submit nominations with a short description of the candidate\'s qualifications to Michael C. Halbig (ECD nominating committee chair), NASA-Glenn Research Center, USA, michael.c.halbig@nasa.gov; Junichi Tatami, Yokohama National University, Japan, tatami@ynu.ac.jp; or Tatsuki Ohji, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, Japan, t-ohji@aist.go.jp. Visit www.ceramics.org/divisions for more information. August 25, 2017 2018 Class of Society Fellows recogniz es members who have made outstanding contributions to the ceramic arts or sciences through productive scholarship or Committee of the Fédération Européenne of the Fabricants de Produits Réfractaires. Quirmbach founded the European Center for Refractories (ECREF) in Höhr-Grenzhausen, which supports training and education of young scientists and development of a research network for the European hightemperature industry. In memoriam Warren E. Beck Robert Farris Eric Gregory Bland A. Stein Milan Vukovich Jr. Visit ACers website for more obituaries www.ceramics.org/in-memoriam. conspicuous achievement in the industry, or by outstanding service to the Society. Nominees should be persons of good reputation who have reached their 35th birthday and have been continuous members of the Society for at least five years. Visit www.bit.ly/SocietyFellowsAward to download the nomination form. Visit www.bit.ly/FellowsHints to learn how to prepare a Fellows nomination. September 1, 2017 Varshneya Frontiers of Glass Lectures: The lectures encourage scientific and technical dialog in glass topics of significance that define new horizons, highlight new research concepts, or demonstrate the potential to develop products and processes for the benefit of humankind. Both will be presented at the GOMD meeting in May 2018 in San Antonio, Texas. Submit nominations to Erica at ezimmerman@ceramics.org. For details, visit www.bit.ly/VarshneyaLectures. www.ceramics.org | American Ceramic Society Bulletin, Vol. 96, No. 6 Awards and deadlines (continued) Do you qualify for Emeritus member status? If you will be at least 65 years old by December 31, 2017, AND will have 35 years of continuous membership in ACerS, you are eligible for Emeritus status. Emeritus members enjoy waived membership dues and reduced meeting registration rates. To verify eligibility, contact Erica Zimmerman at ezimmerman@ ceramics.org. ACerS/BSD Ceramographic Exhibit & Competition The Roland B. Snow Award is presented to the Best of Show winner of the 2017 Ceramographic Exhibit & Competition, organized by the Basic Science Division. This unique competition, held at MS&T17 in October in Pittsburgh, Pa., is an annual poster exhibit that promotes the use of microscopy and microanalysis in the scientific investigation of ceramic materials. Winning entries are featured on the back covers of the Journal of the American Ceramic Society. Learn more at www.bit. ly/Roland BSnowAward. ACerS 2017 Society award recipients now online Visit www.ceramics.org/awards for the list of ACerS 2017 Society award recipients and their bios and photos. All awardees will be featured in the September 2017 issue of the Bulletin. Awards will be presented October 9 at the ACerS Honors and Awards Banquet at MS&T17 in Pittsburgh, Pa. ACerS Global Distinguished Doctoral Dissertation Award NEW Nomination deadline: January 15, 2018. This new award recognizes a distinguished doctoral dissertation in the ceramic and glass discipline. Nominees must have been members of the Global Graduate Researcher Network (GGRN) and have completed a doctoral dissertation as well as all other graduation requirements set by their institution for a doctoral degree within 12 months prior to the application deadline. For complete nomination instructions, visit www.bit.ly/GDDDAward. Submit nominations by mail or electronically (preferred) to Erica Zimmerman at ezimmerman@ceramics.org. 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These special offers are only available through ACerS at www.ceramics.org/meetings/119th, annual-meeting-combined-with-mst17. Send completed forms to Erica Zimmerman at ezimmerman@ceramics.org by August 25, 2017. Students and outreach Congratulations to ACers Next Top Demo Competition winners ACerS Next Top Demo Competition focuses on ceramic and/or glass outreach demonstration skills. Organized by PCSA, the competition is a way to educate the public while promoting the community outreach students already perform at their universities. Congratulations to this year\'s winners! 1st place: Laura Aalto-Setälä and team; Åbo Akademi University; Turku, Finland Crystallization of bioactive glasses, demonstrating bioactive glass crystallization and glassblowing techniques 2nd place: Arjak Bhattacharjee and team; Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur; Kanpur, India Oneness with the Infinite, demonstrating a wide variety of ceramic industries and applications and how integral ceramics are to today\'s society CERAMICANDGLASSINDUSTRY FOUNDATION Foundation seeks project proposals for grant support The CGIF is pleased to provide financial support for projects that help fulfill its mission of helping the ceramic and glass industry attract and train the highest quality talent available. The Foundation provides grants to organizations to allow them to seed or extend existing efforts to grow the base of ceramic and glass education, training, or outreach. Applications that leverage other funding sources and/or link to national efforts in ceramics, glass, or other materials societies are encouraged. Grant funds are allocated based on availability and are determined by the CGIF\'s board of trustees. Organizations can apply once per year, and ACerS members, Keramos, and affiliated materials societies are given preferential consideration. Use the CGIF grant application form and send completed applications electronically to Belinda Raines, outreach manager, at braines@ ceramics.org. Submission deadline for 2017 is September 1. For more information and to download the CGIF grant application form, visit www.bit.ly/CGIFGrantApp. Congratulations to 2017 GOMD student poster winners The Glass & Optical Materials Division awarded best student poster prizes to the following winners at its annual meeting in May. Thanks to Corning Incorporated for their sponsorship of the annual contest. 1st place: Maria White, Austin Peay State University Technological aspects and characterization of solution-based arsenic selenide thin films 2nd place: Yingtian Yu, University of California, Davis Origin of the mixed alkaline earth effect on the hardness of silicate glasses 3rd place: Anthony DeCeanne, Coe College Producing amorphous tellurium dioxide Honorable Mention: Tobias Bechgaard, Aalborg University Photoelastic response of permanently densified oxide glasses Learn how to review journals at MS&T17 seminar Plan to attend \"The benefits of being a reviewer for technical journals\" on Wednesday, October 11, noon to 1 p.m. at MS&T17 in Pittsburgh, Pa. ACerS journal editors will show young professionals, emerging professionals, and graduate students how becoming a journal reviewer can enhance careers and publishing experiences. Mark your calendars now! www.ceramics.org/ ceramictechtoday 10 www.ceramics.org | American Ceramic Society Bulletin, Vol. 96, No. 6 Students and outreach (continued) PCSA creativity contest lets students show their creativity Ever tried to combine science with art? Give it a try and compete in ACerS PCSA\'s 2nd annual Creativity Competition! There are three prize categories, and winning entries will be displayed in the ACerS booth at MS&T17 in Pittsburgh, Pa. Learn more at www. ceramics.org/pcsacreative. Deadline for submissions is August 15, 2017. Recent grads get free ACerS Associate Membership and Young Professionals Network ACerS offers a free one-year Associate Membership for recent graduates who have completed their terminal degree. To receive membership benefits in the world\'s premier membership organization for ceramic and glass professionals, visit www.ceramics.org/associate. ACerS Young Professionals Network gives ceramic and glass scientists who are 25-40 years old, access to invaluable connections and opportunities. YPN is designed for members who have completed their degree. Visit www.ceramics. org/ypn to learn more, or contact Tricia Freshour at tfreshour@ceramics.org. How do you develop a patent? Don\'t miss ACerS webinar: Intellectual property for scientists and engineers Interested in developing a patent? Find out how in this free (for ACerS members) webinar, August 3, 2017, 11 a.m. ET. GGRN and Associate members can register at www.ceramics.org/intellectualpropertywebinar. Registration deadline is August 1, 2017. Grad students: Leverage GGRN to advance your career Build an international network of peers and contacts within the ceramic and glass community by joining the Global Graduate Researcher Network. GGRN is an ACerS membership that addresses the professional and career development needs of graduate-level research students who have a primary interest in ceramic and glass science. GGRN members receive all ACerS individual member benefits plus special events at meetings, and free webinars on topics relevant to the ceramic and glass graduate student community. Membership is only $30 per year. Visit www.ceramics.org/ggrn to learn how GGRN can help your career, or contact Tricia Freshour, ACerS member engagement manager, at tfreshour@ ceramics.org. Know-How and Innovation, Regardless Of The Preparation.... EIRICH Mixing Technology for the Ceramic Industry EIRICH ...for the preparation of • extrusion bodies ⚫ press bodies granules/pellets • slurries • fiber reinforced mixes OUR UNIQUE MIXING PRINCIPLE ROTATING MIXING PAN for material transport VARIABLE-SPEED MIXING TOOL slow to fast for mixing THE EFFECT The separation between material transport and the mixing process This allows the speed of the mixing tool (and thus the power input into the mix) to be varied within wide limits. E EIRICH MACHINES EIRICH GROUP 4033 Ryan Road • Gurnee, IL 60031 P: 847-336-2444 • F: 847-336-0914 eirichsales@eirichusa.com www.eirichusa.com ...with special process know-how for the production of ⚫ ceramic tiles • technical ceramics ⚫ molecular sieves • sanitary ware . friction linings ⚫ proppants • foamed ceramics • ferrites ⚫ refractories grinding abrasives American Ceramic Society Bulletin, Vol. 96, No. 6 | www.ceramics.org 11 business and market view A regular column featuring excerpts from BCC Research reports on industry sectors involving the ceramic and glass industry By Margareth Gagliardi The bcc Research Transparent ceramics he global market for transparent ceramics increased from $165.8 million in 2015 to $194.1 million in 2016 and is estimated to reach $227.3 million by the end of 2017, corresponding to a robust compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 17.1% during the two-year period. Transparent ceramics find applications in various industry sectors, including aerospace and defense, consumer products, energy, healthcare, mechanical/chemical, optics and optoelectronics, and sensors and instrumentation. However, three of these sectors are major contributors to market demand: optics and optoelectronics, aerospace and defense, and sensors and instrumentation (Table 1). Transparent ceramics for optical and optoelectronic applications currently represent the largest share of the market at an estimated 89.9% of the total in 2017, corresponding to $204.4 million in sales. Within this segment, transparent ceramics are primarily used for fabrication of lighting devices, lasers, and optical components. transparent ceramics market at 95.0% of the total. The market for these products is estimated to reach $215.9 million by the end of 2017. Transparent ceramics based on non-oxides (fluorides, selenides, and sulfides) and mixed systems (AION) represent much smaller material shares of the market at 2.2% and 2.8%, respectively, of the total in 2017. Transparent nonoxide ceramics are projected to generate revenues of $5.1 million in 2017, while mixed systems will produce $6.3 million in sales. The most common oxides are pure alumina, yttrium aluminum garnets, and magnesium aluminate spinels. Transparent ceramics made from nanosized alumina are projected to generate global revenues of $109.2 million in 2017, or 50.6% of the total oxide-based transparent ceramics market (Table 2). Transparent yttrium aluminum garnet ceramics represent the second most popular products with a share of 22.4% of the total oxide-based transparent ceramics market in 2017, corresponding to estimated global revenues of $48.4 million. Transparent ceramics based on magnesium aluminate spinel are projected to reach sales of $29 million in 2017 or 13.4% of the oxide-based transparent ceramics market. Other materials such as yttria, zirconia, barium oxide, and perovskites will account for 13.6% of the total oxide-based transparent ceramics Table 1. Global market for transparent ceramics through 2022 ($ millions) Market segment The aerospace and defense sector also account for a significant share of the market with estimated revenues of $19.4 million in 2017, or 8.5% of the total. All remaining applications combined (e.g., consumer, energy, mechanical/ chemical, sensors and instrumentation, and healthcare) represent 1.6% of the total. Oxides currently represent the largest material share of the market in 2017, with estimated revenues of $29.3 million. Demand for transparent ceramics is projected to continue growing at a rapid pace during the next five years, due to a variety of factors, including • • Increased penetration in different sectors, particularly optoelectronics, sensors and instrumentation, and energy; • Healthy growth of certain industry segments, such as LED lighting and solar cells, where transparent ceramics are being introduced; • Availability of advanced raw materials and processing methods that will facilitate the manufacturing of products with improved properties; and • Rising levels of research and development activity. As a result, the total market for transparent ceramics is forecast to grow at a CAGR of 19.3% from 2017 to 2022, reaching global revenues of $548.7 million by 2022. About the author Margareth Gagliardi is a project analyst for BCC Research. Contact Gagliardi at analysts@bccresearch.com. Resource M. Gagliardi, “Transparent Ceramics: Technologies and Global Markets.\" BCC Research Report AVM115B, April 2017. www.bccresearch.com. Table 2. Global market for transparent ceramic oxides by material type, 2017 2015 2016 2017 2022 Optics and optoelectronics Aerospace and defense Sensors and instrumentation Other Total 145.2 172.4 204.4 510.7 17.8 18.6 19.4 30.3 1.2 1.4 1.7 4.0 1.6 1.7 1.8 3.7 15.5 165.8 194.1 227.3 548.7 19.3 CAGR%, 2017-2022 20.1 Material Alumina $ millions Percent 109.2 50.6 9.3 Yttrium aluminum garnets 48.4 22.4 18.7 Magensium aluminate 29.0 13.4 Other materials 29.3 13.6 Total 215.9 100.0 12 www.ceramics.org | American Ceramic Society Bulletin, Vol. 96, No. 6 ceramics in energy Electroplating lithium-ion battery cathodes could. yield higher-performing batteries Researchers at the Frederick Seitz Materials Research Lab at the University of Illinois, Xerion Advanced Battery Corporation, and Nanjing University recently developed a method to electroplate lithium-ion battery cathodes-a process that could manufacture higherperforming, lower-cost lithium-ion batteries in the future. \"This is an entirely new approach to manufacturing battery cathodes, which resulted in batteries with previously unobtainable forms and functionalities,\" Paul V. Braun, director of the research lab and lead researcher of the project, says in a University of Illinois press release. Cathodes of conventional lithium-ion batteries use lithium-containing powder that contains a mixture of powder, a glue-like binder, and inactive materials that form a thick substance that \"doesn\'t contribute anything to the battery, and it gets in the way of electricity flowing in the battery,\" Hailong Ning, director of research and development at Xerion and one of the researchers, says in the release. In other words, the more inactive materials taking up space inside an already small battery, the less energy it produces-which limits performance in devices they power. By electroplating lithium materials directly onto aluminum foil (as well as other surfaces of varying shapes and textures), the researchers eliminated non-essential materials in the lithium cathode material-and crammed in 30% more energy than regular lithium-ion batteries in the process. Other benefits the research team discovered include • Faster charge and discharge, due to current passing directly through, instead of taking a detour through the glue; • Increased stability; Ability for manufacturers to use cheaper and lower quality starting ingredients; and • Higher overall performance. According to the team, the simpler processing method of electroplating could allow development of 3-D batENGINEERED SOLUTIONS FOR POWDER COMPACTION Gasbarre | PTX-Pentronix | Simac HIGH SPEED, MECHANICAL, AND HYDRAULIC POWDER COMPACTION PRESSES FOR UNPRECEDENTED ACCURACY, REPEATABILITY, AND PRODUCTIVITY GASBARRE PRESS GROUP Z MONOSTATIC AND DENSOMATIC ISOSTATIC PRESSES FEATURING DRY BAG PRESSING 814.371.3015 www.gasbarre.com Deltech Furnaces We Build The Furnace To Fit Your Need\" Standard or Custom Control systems are certified by Intertek UL508A compliant. Credit: Hailong Ning and Jerome Davis III; Xerion Advanced Battery Corp. Lithium cobalt oxide electroplated onto the right half of a quarter. American Ceramic Society Bulletin, Vol. 96, No. 6 | www.ceramics.org www.deltechfurnaces.com 13 ceramics in energy tery cathodes, which are impossible with current manufacturing processes. \"Our new electrodes will enable smartphones that run 30% longer or are thinner and lighter with similar run times as today,\" Braun wrote in an email. \"Because the electrodes are highly flexible, they may even enable batteries that are embedded in a watch band or into skin-mounted electronics. In the longer term, by moving to an electroplated ceramic, it may be possible to form high power and energy electrodes with microstructures and chemical compositions impossible to realize via traditional methods.\" The paper, published in Science Advances is \"Electroplating lithium transition metal oxides\" (DOI: 10.1126/sciadv. 1602427). Environmentally friendly batteries use electrodes from rusty stainless steel Researchers in China have found a novel use for rusty stainless steel mesh-they are turning the material into battery electrodes for use in potassium-ion batteries. XinBo Zhang, professor at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and his research group have previously researched forms of renewable energy in batteries, including lithium-ion, sodiumion, and metal-air batteries. Lithium-ion batteries have the highest energy density of other battery types and are used to power things as small as mobile devices and as large as jet aircraft. Although they dominate the industry, they do have their challenges-plus, lithium is becoming more expensive. So Zhang\'s group is experimenting with using potassium ions in batteries. \"Potassium ions are just as inexpensive and readily available as sodium, and potassium-ion batteries would be superior from the electric aspect,\" Zhang explains in a press release. But he says the problem with potassium ions is that they tend to destabilize electrode materials with the recurring 14 K 818 Fe C N K Potassium-ion Battery e PB SSM RGO Ultrafast electron transfer Chinese scientists have developed a method to convert rust directly into a compact layer with a grid structure that can store potassium ions for potassium-ion battery electrodes. storage/release cycle of ions. His team seems to have solved this by making electrodes out of discarded corroded stainless steel mesh filters and sieves. Instead of the costly and polluting process of recovering the metal using a furnace, Zhang\'s group used a chemical solution of potassium ferrocyanide to dissolve the rust. During the chemical reaction, the metal ions combine with ferricyanide ions to form a dark blue pigment, called Prussian blue. The result is cubic scaffold nanocubes where potassium ions can be stored, waiting to be released. They then add a layer of graphene oxide on to the nanocubes, which converts to reduced graphene oxide and “inhibits clumping and detachment of the active material,\" Zhang says. \"At the same time, it significantly increases the conductivity and opens ultrafast electrontransport pathways.\" So not only are the researchers reusing a material that might have ended up in a landfill, they are making a lower-cost, high-performance battery that could someday replace more expensive battery materials. The paper, published in Angewandte Chemie is \"Transformation of rusty stainless-steel meshes into stable, lowcost, and binder-free cathodes for highperformance potassium-ion batteries\" (DOI: 10.1002/anie.201702711). Taller concrete wind turbine towers may finally get off the ground to expand wind power potential According to studies of wind power potential from towers positioned 80 m off the ground-today\'s current standard for wind turbine height-in comparison to towers positioned 140 m off the ground, there is a big difference in potential that would make wind power viable in a much wider region of the United States (and more broadly, in the world) than is currently feasible. The reason is simple-at higher elevations, winds are stronger and more www.ceramics.org | American Ceramic Society Bulletin, Vol. 96, No. 6 Credit: Wiley newsroom TT TevTech MATERIALS PROCESSING SOLUTIONS Custom Designed Vacuum Furnaces for: • CVD SIC Etch & RTP rings ⚫ CVD/CVI systems for CMC components • Sintering, Debind, Annealing Simulation showing how Hexcrete cells can be assembled and stacked on-site to build taller concrete wind turbine towers. consistent, both pluses for energy generation from wind turbines. According to an Iowa State news release, researcher Sri Sritharan says that increasing the height of a wind turbine tower in Iowa by just 20 m can increase energy production by 10%. To reach such great heights, however, wind towers must be really structurally sound to continue standing tall even when challenged with those strong winds. So Sritharan and an Iowa State team of researchers have been developing taller wind turbine towers using a precast concrete technology called Hexcrete. The system consists of precast panels of high-strength concrete that can be shipped to the site of installation, where they are bound together with cables into hexagonal cells that are stacked up to build towering wind towers. After thorough testing of their system, the researchers say that even after 2 million cycles of pushing and pulling a test section of Hexcrete with 100,000 pounds of force, the high-strength concrete still passes the test. \"The testing was very successful,\" Sritharan says in the news release. \"The testing did show the system will work as we expected. There are no concerns about the cable connections or the concrete panels and columns.\" So, it seems that these taller concrete towers may really be getting off the ground soon-especially considering that the researchers also say that their technology will be costcompetitive. In fact, their calculations show that considering cost over the expected life of the taller towers brings their cost under that of the standard 80-m wind towers. may And considering the wider application area taller towers would enable, the winds be shifting for renewable energy. \"Tall towers,\" Sritharan says, \"can add more capacity for renewable energy in all states across the nation.\" American Ceramic Society Bulletin, Vol. 96, No. 6 | www.ceramics.org Unsurpassed thermal and deposition uniformity Each system custom designed to suit your specific requirements Laboratory to Production Exceptional automated control systems providing improved product quality, consistency and monitoring Worldwide commissioning, training and service www.tevtechllc.com Tel. (978) 667-4557 Sealing Glass 100 Billerica Ave, Billerica, MA 01862 Fax. 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Conch shells are tough-10 times tougher than go-to-toughbiomaterial nacre-because they have a three-tiered architecture that contains layers of materials with opposing grain directions. The opposing grain structure creates a maze-like matrix within the shell that prevents cracks from propagating by not providing them with a clear path to follow. So to recreate that natural structure, the MIT team used additive manufacturing to develop a technology that replicates the conch\'s shell structure. The 3-D printing technique deposits layers of polymer materials with opposing geometries-akin to the shell\'s structure-to create a composite with layered organization. Then, the scientists used simulations in combination with dynamic testing experiments in the lab to examine how cracks form and propagate within the material upon impact in a drop tower. \"There was amazing agreement between the model and the experiments,\" Markus Buehler, MIT McAfee Professor of Engineering and senior author of the new research, says in an MIT News story. Just like in the conch\'s naturally strong shell, opposing geometries were important for imparting the 3-D-printed material with strength. \"Testing proved that the geometry with the conch-like, crisscrossed features was 85% better at preventing crack propagation than the strongest base material, and 70% better than a traditional fiber composite arrangement,\" Grace Gu, MIT graduate student and lead author of the research, adds in the MIT News story. Hear more about this work in the short MIT video available at youtu.be/mEMBmllitbg. For lightweight materials with such a high degree of toughness, body armor applications are a logical potential application for these additively structured polymeric materials. Research News Antiferroelectrics provide better way to store renewable energy In an effort to find better ways to store renewable energy, physicists at the University of Arkansas (Fayetteville, Ark.), in collaboration with a scientist at the Luxembourg Institute of Science and Technology, have shown that antiferroelectrics can provide high energy density. Antiferroelectrics become ferroelectric with the application of a high enough electric field. By exploiting this characteristic, researchers predicted that the materials can achieve high energy density and efficiency, in particular with rare-earth substituted bismuth ferrite material. They were also able to create a model that explains the connection between energy density and the electric field, which points toward further research on storage devices that improve the efficiency of wind and solar power. For more information, visit http:// news.uark.edu. www.ceramics.org | American Ceramic Society Bulletin, Vol. 96, No. 6 Credit: Melanie Gonick; Massachusetts Institute of Technology TAⓇ Instruments Buy one of our NEW Discovery Laser Flash or Optical Dilatometry Platform systems, get a FREE Dilatometer! Drop tests showed that a 3-D printed composite geometry with conchlike, criss-crossed features (right) was substantially better at preventing crack propagation that a composite without these features. \"This has stiffness, like glass or ceramics,\" Buehler says in the release. But integrating the layered structure makes the MIT team\'s composites much less brittle than traditional glass or ceramic materials. And additively manufacturing with polymer composites comes at significantly lower costs that other types of materials. Toughness and fracture resistance are really important criteria for body armor materials, but additional ballistic considerations include a material\'s ability to resist penetration and its multi-hit capacity. Can a material stop high speed bullets before they penetrate? And how does the material stand up to an assault from multiple hits? Polymer fibers have previously shown promise in body armor applications, but when it comes to stopping high-speed bullets, hard plates made of ceramic or metal still have offered the best protection. More tests with these new layered composites are needed to see how they fare in high-speed and multihit ballistic tests. And although 3-D printing technologies are much more developed for polymers, there have been big advancements in additive manufacturing of ceramics and glass recently—which could suggest that similar layered architectures might be able to be applied to such materials eventually as well. The paper, published in Advanced Materials, is \"Hierarchically enhanced impact resistance of bioinspired composites\" (DOI: 10.1002/adma.201700060). promo.tainstruments.com/bogo MIX THE IMPOSSIBLE TURBULAⓇ SHAKER-MIXER MOF catalyst paves way for carbon neutral fuel University of Adelaide (South Australia) scientists in collaboration with CSIRO have paved the way for carbon neutral fuel with the development of a new efficient catalyst that converts carbon dioxide from the air into synthetic natural gas in a \'clean\' process using solar energy. The catalystsynthesized using porous crystals called metal-organic frameworks that allow precise spatial control of chemical elements-effectively drives the process of combining carbon dioxide with hydrogen to produce methane and water. Importantly, only a small amount of the catalyst is needed for high production of methane, which increases economic viability. The catalyst also operates at mild temperatures and low pressures, making solar thermal energy possible. For more information, visit www.adelaide.edu.au/news. For homogeneous mixing of powdered materials of varying densities, particle sizes & concentrations. <m Glen Mills* Call: 973-777-0777 220 Delawanna Ave, Clifton, NJ 07014 Fax: 973-777-0070 www.glenmills.com staff@glenmills.com American Ceramic Society Bulletin, Vol. 96, No. 6 | www.ceramics.org 17 18 AdValue Technology Your Valuable Partner in Material Science! 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Through their research, Gao\'s lab, along with Hui Wu\'s and Xiaoyan Li\'s lab at Tsinghua, discovered that ceramic materials behave differently on a nanoscale. They do not crack or break-which is what typically happens to ceramics on a larger scale. In addition, Gao explained that the ceramic nanofibers they created have a tendency to creep-in other words, \"enabling the material to deform without breaking,\" he says. The challenge the scientists initially faced lies within the creation of nanofibers. Wu\'s previous method of electrospinning did not work well with ceramic materials, and 3-D laser printing was too costly. So he developed a method called blow-spinning-which uses air pressure to blow ceramic liquid through a tiny syringe. The liquid hardens into nanofibers and is then heated and collected in a small spongy ball. After creating sponges from various oxide ceramic materialsincluding titanium dioxide, zirconium dioxide, yttria-stabilized zirconium dioxide, and barium titanate-the research team subjected them to compression tests. All sponges rebounded from being compressed up to 50%. See the sponges compress and spring back in a short video available at youtu.be/gpwpLieVtmY. In addition, the team wanted to compare the insulating effects of the nanofiber sponges with various other materials, including glass, iron, and aluminum oxide. When flower petals were placed on top of each material, which was then heated to 400°C (752°F), only the nanofiber sponges were able to keep the flower petals from burning up. The work could have a significant impact in industries that Research News Making ferromagnets stronger by adding non-magnetic element Researchers at the Ames Laboratory (Ames, Iowa) discovered that they could functionalize magnetic materials through a thoroughly unlikely method, by adding amounts of the virtually non-magnetic element scandium to a gadolinium-germanium alloy. The discovery could greatly change the way scandium and other \'conventionally\' non-magnetic elements are considered and used in magnetic materials research and development, and possibly creates new tools for controlling, manipulating, and functionalizing useful magnetic rare-earth compounds. For more information, visit www.ameslab.gov/news. www.ceramics.org | American Ceramic Society Bulletin, Vol. 96, No. 6 make insulated materials requiring flexibility, Gao notes in the release. He cites an example of insulated clothing for firefighters made out of their flexible ceramic material. Clothing with that kind of insulating property could also be helpful for environmental researchers based in extremely cold climates. Most important, Gao says, the method can be manufactured at a larger scale. \"The method we use for doing it is inexpensive and scalable to make these in large quantities.\" The researchers provide an example of another use of their ceramic sponges-water purification. When a titanium dioxide sponge was placed in water containing a dye, it absorbed 50 times its weight and degraded the dye. Plus, they were able to reuse the sponge. The open-access paper, published in Science Advances, is \"Ultralight, scalable, and high-temperature-resilient ceramic nanofiber sponges\" (DOI: 10.1126/sciadv. 1603170). RAYMOND BARTLETT SNOW ARVOS GROUR Bartlett Snow Rotary Calciners Proven for High Temperature Thermal Processing • Custom designed to meet your requirements. . • Highly effective processing of shapes, extrudates, granular materials and powders. 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Credit: Gao, Li, Wu, Brown; Tsinghua University www.raymond-bartlett-snow.com 4525 Weaver Parkway, Warrenville IL 60555 info-raymond@arvos-group.com Thermcraft incorporated eXPRESS-LINE Laboratory Furnaces & Ovens • Horizontal & Vertical Tube Furnaces, Single and Multi-Zone • Box Furnaces & Ovens • Temperatures up to 1700°C • Made in the U.S.A. • Available within Two Weeks Plant inspiration could lead to flexible electronics To create a graphene-based aerogel for potential incorporation into bendable electronics, researchers took inspiration from the stem structure of the powdery alligator-flag plant. The team used a bidirectional freezing technique to assemble a new type of biomimetic graphene aerogel that had an architecture like that of the plant\'s strong stem. The material supported 6,000 times its own weight and maintained its strength after intensive compression trials and was resilient. They also put the aerogel in a circuit with an LED and found it could potentially work as a component of a flexible device. The researchers say that the approach could help them improve other types of materials in the future. For more information, visit www.acs.org. SmartControl Touch Screen Control System www.thermcraftinc.com • info@thermcraftinc.com +1.336.784.4800 American Ceramic Society Bulletin, Vol. 96, No. 6 | www.ceramics.org 19 O bulletin cover story Reaction-bonded boron carbide for lightweight armor: The interrelationship between processing, microstructure, and mechanical properties A BorLite reaction-bonded boron carbide armor plate, manufactured by Paxis Ltd. (Savion, Israel), after impact with 7.62X63 AP M2 projectiles. By Shmuel Hayun With adequate understanding of processing parameters and resulting material properties, reaction bonding offers a relatively inexpensive alternative fabrication method for lightweight ceramic armor. Credit: Paxis ince the dawn of history, weapons and armor have been in a life-and-death struggle. During the last three decades of the 20th century, a variety of ceramics, including aluminum nitride (AIN), aluminum oxide (Al,O), boron carbide (BC), silicon carbide (SiC), titanium diboride (TiB,), tungsten carbide (WC), and zirconium oxide (ZrO2), were investigated as armor materials. Light ceramics particularly are attractive for personnel as well as land and airborne vehicle protection. The most commonly used ceramics are Al2O3, SiC, and BC. Al2O3 is the most economical alternative, but its final protection solutions are heavier, because Al2O3 has the highest density and lowest ballistic efficiency of the three light ceramics. BC is the hardest ceramic, but it undergoes an amorphization process at high impact pressures (such as with WC-cored bullets), which weakens the armor. Although SiC has no amorphization issues, its higher density (3.2 g/cm³) compared with BC (2.52 g/cm³) limits its use. We must consider some other points when choosing an adequate armor material. For instance, low porosity in the ceramic tile generally results in better ballistic performance. Moreover, smaller grain sizes increase ballistic performance. In addition, ease of fabrication and cost are of paramount importance in considering a particular material for armor applications. Full density of BC or SiC is a prerequisite for achieving acceptable ballistic resistance, but can be attained only by hot-pressing fine powder (<2 μm) in the presence of sintering additives at relatively high temperatures (>2,473 K). Further, production method strongly affects properties of the ceramic: hot-pressing tiles often results in a harder ceramic, which is optimal against a single hit, whereas reaction-bonding tiles provide better multihit performance. However, there is no 20 20 www.ceramics.org | American Ceramic Society Bulletin, Vol. 96, No. 6 Capsule summary THE POTENTIAL Reaction-bonding fabrication methods offer a low-cost route to produce composites with effective ballistic impact resistance, generating materials with great potential for lightweight armor applications. THE CAVEAT Despite the potential of reaction-bonded materials for armor applications, processing variables in reaction-bonding techniques can significantly reduce mechanical properties of resulting composites. THE SOLUTION Better understanding of the effect of processing parameters on the microstructure of infiltrated composites, their static and dynamic mechanical properties, and microstructure-property relationships can help develop more efficient reaction-bonded boron carbide for lightweight armor applications. clear correlation between quasi-static and/ or dynamic mechanical properties and the ballistic behavior of ceramics. Nonetheless, some parameters, such as hardness, fracture toughness, and elastic modulus, are expected to have an influence. Elevated hardness values are, by common consensus, crucially important for good ballistic resistance, because a material with sufficiently high hardness deforms or fragments a projectile upon impact.¹ Moreover, ceramic fragments may continually abrade the projectile during the rest of the penetration process.² It is, however, unclear if harder is always better, because one of the main failure modes of thin ceramic tiles is related to fracture from tensile stresses, which higher hardness does not improve. Competition between high performance of carbide ceramics and the high cost of conventional fabrication methods led to the development of relatively inexpensive alternative fabrication methods capable of providing adequate mechanical properties. One approach is based on the reaction-bonding technique. According to this approach, ceramic powder (SiC, BC, or BC-SiC mixture) is mixed with free carbon, compacted, and subsequently infiltrated with molten metal (e.g., silicon or aluminum alloys). Molten metal reacts with free carbon and with carbon that originates in BC to form a ceramic composite. The resulting composite has high cohesive strength and elevated hardness values and is an effective ballistic impact-resistant material. Several variants of reaction-bonding processes, as well as the properties of final composites, are described in scientific journals and in patents. One crucial drawback associated with reaction-bonded composites, however, is the fraction of the residual metal/alloy that significantly reduces the composite\'s mechanical properties. This fraction strongly depends on initial porosity of the preforms and on the fraction of additional free carbon. Several approaches can reduce initial preform porosity, including partial sintering, use of multimodal powder mixtures, addition of elements that react with the alloy/metal to form stable phases, and addition of Men Figure 1. Scanning electron micrograph of RBSC composite. The new SiC layer (white color) precipitates on initial SiC particles (darker color). elements (e.g., titanium or iron) or compounds (e.g., TiC) that react with BC and release additional free carbon. Thus, knowledge of the effect of processing parameters on the microstructure of infiltrated composites, their static and dynamic mechanical properties, and microstructure-property relationships is necessary to understand and develop more efficient armor. Processing of reaction-bonded composites Reaction bonding is a special case of reaction-forming processes that represent an important alternative to conventional sintering processes, such as solid-state sintering, liquid-phase sintering, and hot pressing. For polycrystalline ceramics fabricated by processes involving chemical reactions, consolidation between constitutive particles occurs by formation of new phases rather than by a neck-growth mechanism induced by relatively weak surface energy forces. In general, these processes have the advantage of reducing working temperature, shaping materials in potentially complex and large near-net American Ceramic Society Bulletin, Vol. 96, No. 6 | www.ceramics.org shapes, and reducing or even canceling postconsolidation machining. All these make the reaction-forming process an obvious direct cost-benefit method. The most important and widely used reaction-forming processes are based on reactions between a porous solid and an infiltrating liquid phase. Reaction-bonded silicon carbide (RBSC) composites The reaction-bonding approach was first suggested and developed in the 1950s for SiC.³ According to this approach, a porous body (preform) consisting of the ceramic phase and free carbon is infiltrated with liquid silicon, which reacts with the carbon to form a secondary SiC phase. The resulting microstructure (Figure 1) consists of original SiC particles surrounded by a secondary SiC phase and 5-15 vol% of residual silicon.4 Pre-existing, primary SiC particles are bonded by the newly formed SiC phase. A recent spin-off that uses diamond as a carbon source shows huge potential—the new composites show elevated stiffness, hardness, and thermal conductivity values. 21 Reaction-bonded boron carbide for lightweight armor: The interrelationship... The microstructure and mechanical properties of RBSC have been thoroughly investigated. Previous studies established the effect of compacted preform properties (porosity, pore size and distribution, fraction of free carbon, and carbon source) and processing parameters (temperature and duration of the infiltration procedure as well as cooling regime) on the microstructure of infiltrated compos ites and their mechanical properties.5 RBSC materials display high mechanical properties, including hardness (15-25 GPa), Young\'s modulus (320-400 GPa), flexural strength (100-400 MPa), and fracture toughness (~3.9 MPa.m¹/2). 6 Two main factors determine mechanical properties of an RBSC: • Fraction of residual silicon, the properties of which are significantly lower than those of the SiC phase; and • Structure and strength of the interfaces between RBSC phases. The first factor is straightforwardwe can reduce the fraction of residual silicon by adding reactive elements to the silicon melt. These elements react with residual liquid silicon to form silicide phases. The second factor is more complex and is discussed widely in the literature. Reported results regarding the nature of Si/SiC and α-SiC/B-SiC interfaces are summarized in a review by Ness and Page, who conclude that occasional misfit dislocations and steps are formed at Si/SiC interfaces. These observations are in good agreement with the results of Naylor and Page, who show that the Si/ SiC interface is mechanically weak and provides a preferential path for fracture under indentation. Interfaces between B-SiC and a-SiC are semicoherent, and it is suggested that SiC/SiC a/a, a/ẞ, B/α and B/B) grain boundaries are strongly bonded by a thin layer (~1 nm) of amorphous SiC. Reaction-bonded boron carbide (RBBC) composites In 1973, Taylor and Palicke submitted a patent on “Dense carbide composite for armor and abrasives.\" In this patent and other papers, Taylor and Palicke touch upon several key issues of the process that recurrently is referred to in subsequent patents. The authors fabricated 22 Table 1. Technological parameters of specimen fabrication Specimen RB RBM Initial particle size (µm) Partial sintering, Carbon Alloying 30 min addition elements Porosity of preform (vol%) 1,5,100 No No No 30, 45 Multimodal powder No No No 25 mixtures+ RI 1,5 RIC 1,5 RITC+ RIFE$ 1,5 5 2,173-2,373 K No No 20, 30, 40 2,173-2,373 K Yes No 20, 30, 40 2,343-2,403 K No TiC 20, 30, 40 2,273 K No Fe 30 tion and addition of carbon content (TiC) or carbon release elements (iron) to BC, where the reaction between these compounds releases free carbon. Technological parameters for specimen fabrication are presented in Table I. Microstructure and phase composition of BC composites *Powder mixture consists of 60, 15, and 25 parts of particles with average sizes of 106, 13, and 1 pm. *RITC is reaction infiltration of partly sintered B₁C-TiC body infiltrated with carbon. SRIFE is reaction infiltration of partly sintered B,C-Fe body infiltrated with silicon dense carbide composites using the same technique for RBSC, but, instead of SiC, they used BC. They discuss issues, including the source of the carbon that is meant to react with molten silicon (which may be a free-carbon addition), a carbon-based binder (which provides minimal self-supporting strength to the green body), or BC itself (which releases carbon when in contact with molten silicon). Taylor and Palicke also discuss the importance of BC particle-size distribution and its effect on efficient volume filling. The authors argue that at least 12 vol% of residual silicon is necessary to achieve good fabrication yields (i.e., composites without cracks). This requirement puts a major drawback on RBBC, similar to RBSC, where residual silicon creates soft spots that detract from overall ballistic efficiency of the product. Since then, the research has expanded to overcome this obstacle and to reduce the amount of residual silicon in RBSC. Fabrication approaches for RBBC composites The fraction of residual silicon strongly depends on initial porosity of the preforms and on initial fraction and distribution of free carbon within a compacted body. To reduce initial porosity of the preforms, we can either partly sinter BC compacts to a desired porosity or use a mixture of optimally distributed BC powders of various average particle sizes. At early stages of our work, we realized that use of resins as a source of free carbon should be avoided, because toxic gases are released during pyrolysis. Thus, we used several alternative methods, including pyrolysis of commercial sugar after drying a 50:50 water soluStudies establish the microstructure and phase composition of siliconinfiltrated BC composites fabricated via various approaches. The following phase compositions were studied: • Reaction-bonded (RB, green BC body infiltrated with silicon); • • Reaction-bonded multimodal (RBM, green BC body made of multimodal particles infiltrated with silicon; Reaction-infiltrated (RI, partly sintered body infiltrated with silicon); and • Reaction-infiltrated with added carbon (RIC, partly sintered body with added free carbon and infiltrated with silicon). These materials consist of four phases: original BC particles; ternary B₁2 (B,C,Si), compound; B-SiC; and residual silicon (Figure 2). The reaction between molten silicon and BC particles results in core-rim structure formation and a ẞ-SiC phase of single platelike particles. Aghajanian et al. 10 stress that the reaction of molten silicon with BC has a deleterious effect and suggest the use of boron as an alloying element to silicon to curtail its interaction with the ceramic matrix. However, thermodynamic analysis and experimental results show that formation of the silicon-containing BC compound B₁₂(B,C,Si), during the RBBC process is independent of the fabrication approach and always occurs in the B-C-Si system. Results from www.ceramics.org | American Ceramic Society Bulletin, Vol. 96, No. 6 RIC RI Sic Si Rim Crack Core Rim Rim Rim Core 10Mm RBM Credit: Shmuel Hayun Figure 2. Scanning electron micrographs of bulk regions in RI, RIC, and RBM composites. In RBM composite, left image shows microstructure after removal of residual silicon; right image shows enlarged area between two large BC grains. nanoindentation experiments show that average hardness and Young\'s modulus values of the B₁(B,C,Si), phase (H₁ = 46.1 + 4.2 GPa and E = 474 + 34 GPa, respectively) are slightly higher than those of the initial BC phase (H₁ = 42.0 + 3.3 GPa and E 460 + 23 GPa).\" In addition, inspection of a crack propagation path indicates that the boundary between core and rim regions is relatively strong and does not deflect the propagating crack (Figure 3). Thus, the newly formed B₁₂(B,C,Si), phase does not reduce mechanical properties of the composite. The mechanism of core-rim structure formation is attributed to the dissolution precipitation process, which is well accounted for by thermodynamic analysis of the B-C-Si system. ¹² Because BC is a covalently bonded solid, its components diffuse at an extremely low rate, and, therefore, it dissolves congruently (i.e., with no compositional changes). Boron concentration in the melt as a result of congruent dissolution is 8.0 at.% of boron. At the same time, boron content in the melt, which is in equilibrium with SiC and the ternary B₁(B,C,Si), phase, is ~6.6 at.%. Thus, congruent dissolution of BC provides the required oversaturation for ternary carbide formation, and precipitation of the B₁(B,C,Si), phase establishes overall equilibrium conditions in the system. Precipitation of the ternary carbide phase takes place at the interface of original BC particles and leads to formation of rim regions. The dissolution-precipitation process continues as long as the liquid is in contact with original BC particles. The amount of various phases within RBBC composites is strongly affected by two factors, neither of which is free-carbon addition (Table 2). The first and obvious factor is initial porosity of the preforms, which determines amount of residual silicon and American Ceramic Society Bulletin, Vol. 96, No. 6 | www.ceramics.org Credit: Shmuel Hayun 1510 04bea 21 20 SE Figure 3. Crack propagation path in the composite underlines strength of the boundary between the BC particle core and adjacent rim. Moreover, interaction with SiC plates causes multiple crack deflections. Starbar and Moly-D elements are made in the U.S.A. with a focus on providing the highest quality heating elements and service to the global market. FR -- 50 years of service and reliability 50 1964-2014 I Squared R Element Co., Inc. Akron, NY Phone: (716)542-5511 Fax: (716)542-2100 Email: sales@isquaredrelement.com www.isquaredrelement.com 23 Reaction-bonded boron carbide for lightweight armor: The interrelationship... Table 2. Average phase distribution in carbon-free and carbon-containing composites Material Initial porosity B₁₂C (vol%) SiC (vol%) Silicon Material (vol%) Initial porosity Free carbon (vol%) B₁C (vol%)+ SiC (vol%) Silicon (vol%) 20 80 ± 3 13 ± 1 7±1 RIC(P_1)* 20 3 ± 0.5 80 ± 3 12±1 8 ± 1 RI(P_1)* 30 70 ± 3 17 ± 1 13 ± 1 30 3 ± 0.5 70 ± 3 17 +1 13 ± 1 40 60 ± 3 20 ± 1 20 ± 1 40 5 ± 0.5 60 ± 3 24 +1 16 ±1 20 80 ± 3 8 ± 1 12 ± 1 RIC(P_5)* 20 3 ± 0.5 80 ± 3 8 ± 1 12±1 RI(P_5)* 30 70 ± 3 10 ± 1 20 ± 1 30 4±0.5 70 ± 3 9 ± 1 21 ± 1 40 60 ± 3 12±1 28 ± 1 40 6 ± 0.5 60 ± 3 10 ± 1 30 ± 1 RBM(P_75)* 25 84 ± 2 6±1 10+ 1 RB(P_5)* 30 69 ± 2 11 ± 1 20 ± 1 +Boron carbide: B,C + B₁₂(B,C,Si)¸*P_X is initial B4C average particle size (mm). the newly formed SiC phase. The second factor is related to initial particle size of BC. Amount of SiC in the final composite decreases with increasing initial particle size for a given process time. This feature is related to available BC surface for interaction with molten silicon, which is significantly higher for fine initial BC particles. In the case of free-carbon addition to the green body prior to infiltration, amount of SiC that forms also strongly depends on initial porosity, with little influence from carbon addition. This \"strange\" fact may be related to thermodynamic equilibrium in the Si-B-C system for a given temperature. Free carbon \"eats\" some of the infiltrated silicon and leaves less silicon to interact with BC, E (GPa) Hv (GPa) HEL (GPa) 450 400 350 300 250 200 30 25 20 15 10 20 15 10 resulting in less SiC formation from the Si-BC interaction. Data in Table 2 show that the total amount of SiC in RIC is very close to carbon-free samples (RI and RB), with similar particle sizes and initial porosity. Another microstructural feature in this system that strongly depends on processing parameter is morphology of the newly formed SiC phase. In composites fabricated with free-carbon addition, SiC particles display a polygonal shape. For composites in which initial BC is the sole source of carbon, the SiC phase displays a platelike morphology. According to transmission electron microscopy analysis, the B-SiC phase always precipitates as single platelike particles from the silicon melt, ■RI ⚫ RIC ▲ RBM ▼ RB ♦ RITC RIFE 5 5 10 15 20 25 30 Residual silicon (vol%) Figure 4. Elastic modulus, Vickers hardness, and OHEL of composites as a function of residual silicon. 24 Credit: Shmuel Hayun preferably with the {111} habit plane at the first stage. Available amount of carbon for SiC formation during the process stands behind the different morphology. Pampuch et al.13 and Ness and Page 14 discuss the mechanism of SiC formation in RBSC-based composites. At initial stages of the interaction, carbon is suggested to dissolve in the silicon melt, similar to a system without SiC particles. 15 This dissolution provides a gradient of carbon concentrations between the dissolution site and original SiC particles. Carbon diffuses to the surface of SiC particles, and newly formed SiC heterogeneously precipitates. These processes form the specific microstructure of RBSC composites (Figure 1). Moreover, Ness and Page 14 point out that formation of the B-SiC phase in RBSC composites starts as fingerlike particles, which transform to platelike shapes that then broaden to polygonal shapes. In RBBC composites fabricated in the presence of free carbon, two carbon sources are available for SiC formation. Moreover, solubility of carbon in the silicon melt at equilibrium with SiC is extremely low and does not depend on carbon source. Nevertheless, in the vicinity of BC particles, conditions for SiC formation are different from those for free-carbon particles. Carbon and boron dissolve from BC particles into the silicon melt, and SiC and B₁₂(B,C,Si), phases precipitate. The ternary carbide phase precipitates at the surface of original BC particles via a semicoherent interface and competes with SiC for carbon atoms. SiC particles are nucleated within the melt only up to the stage at which dissolution of BC in the molten silicon 4 www.ceramics.org | American Ceramic Society Bulletin, Vol. 96, No. 6 increases the concentration of boron to its solubility limit. At this point, the ternary B₁(B,C,Si), compound begins to precipitate at the carbide-melt interface and forms rim regions. Further growth of SiC nuclei is controlled by the available amount of carbon, which is significantly lower than in the vicinity of free-carbon particles. These particles are commonly a product of pyrolysis of carbon-rich organics and have a spongelike structure with extremely high specific surface area. Thus, many SiC nuclei form at the carbon-liquid interface. These nuclei begin to grow as plates, which coalesce and form SiC/SiC grain boundaries within polygonal SiC particles by a mechanism similar to that for RBSC composites. Thus, carbon availability is a key factor for morphology of the B-SiC phase. If BC is the only carbon source, the amount of carbon is limited, and ẞ-SiC particles have a platelike shape. If free carbon is present in the green body and other phases do not compete with SiC, most B-SiC particles have a polygonal shape. Effect of microstructural features on static and dynamic mechanical properties Elastic modulus (Young\'s modulus, in particular) and hardness values of composites decrease with increasing fraction of residual silicon (Figure 4). Hardness values refer to average hardness of the composite and reflect contribution of various phases, with a wide range of specific hardness values (see Hayun et al., 2009).16 These properties depend solely on the residual silicon fraction. Initial size of BC particles, element attrition, and morphology of SiC inclusions do not affect elastic modulus and hardness of the composites. Dynamic mechanical properties (i.e., Hugoniot elastic limit (HEL))17 show similar tendency for samples with similar particles sizes (~1-5 µm) (Figure 4). The σEL values obtained with RBM composites-characterized by low content of residual silicon (~10 vol%), but relatively large average initial particle sizes (~70 μm)-lie far apart from the other current HEL data. Although elastic modulus and hardness are almost independent from initial size of BC particles, HEL, dynamic and static flexural strength, dynamic tensile (spall) strength, and fracture toughness are strongly affected. For example, in composites made from BC with particles size of ~1-5 µm without carbon addition (RI and RB specimens), spall strength drops to zero at impact stresses in the range of 8-9 GPa. In RIC specimens (larger SiC particles compared with RI and RB), loss of strength takes place significantly earlier, at impact stresses of 6-7 GPa. In RBM composites, spall strength decreases to zero even under weak impact conditions (>1 GPa), and specimens seem to completely disintegrate under weak compression. HEL decreases from 15 GPa for 1-µm samples to 10 GPa when the initial BC particle size is 75 µm. Flexural strength and fracture toughness also decease with increasing average particle (grain) sizes. Moreover, static flexural strength and fracture toughness show strong dependency on specific SiC morphology (Figure 5). Flexural strength of composites with added carbon (RIC and TIC) is significantly lower than that of RI and RB composites, where BC is a sole source of carbon for SiC formation and SiC inclusions have a platelike morphology. Relatively low values of American Ceramic Society Bulletin, Vol. 96, No. 6 | www.ceramics.org Flexural strength (MPa) 500 450 400 350 300 250 200 5 10 15 20 RI • RIC ▲ RBM ▼ RB ♦ RITC Residual silicon (vol%) RIFE 25 30 Figure 5. Flexural strength of composites as a function of fraction of residual silicon. flexural strength for RBM specimens (also fabricated without freecarbon addition) originate from large particle sizes. A similar tendency is observed for fracture toughness of the composites. Values of fracture toughness for RI and RB composites, fabricated in the absence of free carbon using preforms with ~30 vol% porosity, are K₁ = 3.62 ± 0.16 MPa-m1/2 and K₁ = 4.11 ± 0.36, respectively. Fracture toughness of RIC composites fabricated with added carbon is much lower, at K₁ = 2.85 ± 0.35 MPa∙m¹². Elevated fracture toughness values of RBM specimens www.bucheremhartglass.com Creating a perfect refractory is more than our passion. It\'s an Emhart Glass tradition. Emhart Glass Manufacturing Inc. 405 East Peach Avenue PO Box 580 Owensville MO 65066 USA Phone +1 573 437 2132 Ordering +1 800 243 0048 webmaster@bucheremhartglass.com BUCHER emhart glass 25 Credit: Shmuel Hayun Reaction-bonded boron carbide for lightweight armor: The interrelationship ... (K 3.25 MPa.m¹/2) indicate that SiC IC = morphology has a major effect on K₁c whereas influence of initial size of BC particles on K₁ is minor. The strengthening effect of platelike SiC particles on ceramic composites based on SiC is well-known. 18 Presence of SiC particles with a platelike morphology affects crack propagation through BC-based composites (Figure 3). As noted above, the volume fraction of SiC particles in composites fabricated from preforms with a given porosity does not depend on carbon source. Moreover, polygonal SiC particles are significantly coarser than platelike particles. These features stand behind the increased per unit volume of particles with a platelike morphology. An increase of finer particles is associated with more boundaries that are to be crossed by propagating cracks, thereby decreasing crack energy. Up to this point, the discussion has centered on how amount of residual silicon, SiC morphology, and average grain size affect mechanical properties. An additional processing parameter with a strong impact on production cost is a preliminary sintering stage for producing a strong skeleton ceramic body, which is thought to reduce the amount of silicon and even enhance mechanical properties by forming a ceramic matrix. However, the final microstructure of presintered composites (RI) is similar to that of RB composites (preforms are infiltrated only after compacting), with the same amount of residual silicon. It appears that liquid silicon attacks the boundaries between BC particles within partly sintered performs and transforms these boundaries to rim regions consisting of the ternary B₁(B,C,Si), carbide phase.\" In the case of RB composites, BC particles are interconnected by the same ternary B₁₂(B,C,Si), carbide phase. Thus, rim regions connect the original BC particles in both types of composites, which, independently of the presence of preliminary sintering, display similar microstructures and phase compositions, leading to similar mechanical properties. Therefore, this presintering processing step is useless. Another important parameter that dictates the best processing approach for RBBC composites is the reliability of 26 products. Using the Weibull approach, 20 RI and RB materials exhibit the same Weibull modulus value (m≈ 5.6), whereas this value is significantly lower for RIC (m 3.14). RBM composites have a fantastic Weibull modulus value (m≈ 13.3), which we attribute to the high level of homogeneity of this composite. ≈ Finally, the use of RBBC composites for light-armor applications has expanded dramatically in the past two decades. Those original works, ongoing for more than 20 years, set the path for improvements in RBBC technology. Ballistic efficiency according to depth of penetration (DOP) tests shows remarkable improvements in RBBC materials. Twenty years ago, RBBC composites had ballistic weight efficiencies (measure of stopping power relative to weight, in which a higher value indicates better performance) that were little higher than those of Al2O3. Today, RBM materials reach a ballistic efficiency close to that of hot-pressed BC. This patented strategy21 is now implemented in a new series of armor products made by the PAXIS company in Israel. Acknowledgments Shmuel Hayun expresses deep appreciation to Nahum Frage, Moshe P. Dariel, and Eugene Zaretsky for more than 15 years of joint research and valuable discussions in this area. About the author Shmuel Hayun is with the Department of Materials Engineering at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (Beer-Sheva, Israel). Contact Hayun at hayuns@bgu.ac.il. References ¹J.C. LaSalvia, J. Campbell, J. Swab, and J. McCauley, \"Beyond hardness: Ceramics and ceramic-based composites for protection,\" JOM, 62 [1] 16-23 (2010). 2A. Krell and E. Strassburger, \"Separation and hierarchic order of key influences on the ballistic strength of opaque and transparent ceramic armor\"; pp. 1053-64 in Proceedings of 27th International Symposium on Ballistics (Freiburg, Germany, April 22-26, 2013). DEStech Publications, Lancaster, Pa., 2013. 3P. Popper, \"The preparation of dense self-bonded silicon carbide,\" Spec. Ceram., 209-19 (1960). 4Y.M. Chiang, R.P. Messner, C.D. Terwilliger, and D.R. Behrendt, \"Reaction-formed silicon carbide,\" Mater. Sci. Eng. A, A144, 63-74 (1991). 5J.N. Ness and T.F. Page, “Some factors affecting mechanical and microstructural anisotropy in reactionbonded silicon carbides\"; pp. 347-65 in Tailoring Multiphase and Composite Ceramics: Proceedings of the Twenty-First University Conference on Ceramic Science. Plenum Press, New York, 1986. \'M.K. Aghajanian, B.N. Morgan, J.R. Singh, J. Mears, and R.A. Wolffe, \"A new family of reaction-bonded ceramics for armor applications\"; pp. 527-39 in Ceramic Transactions, Vol. 134, Ceramic Armor Material by Design. Edited by J.W. McCauley and A. Crowson. American Ceramic Society, Westerville, Ohio, 2001. J.N. Ness and T.F. Page, \"The structure and properties of interfaces in reaction-bonded silicon carbides\"; in Tailoring Multiphase Composite Ceramics, 1986. 8M.S. Naylor and T.F. Page, \"Microstructural studies of the temperature-dependence of deformation structures around hardness indentations in ceramics,\" J. Microsc., 130, 345-60 (1983). \'K.M. Taylor and R.J. Palicka, “Dense carbide composite for armor and abrasives,\" U.S. Pat. No. 3 765 300, 1973. 10M.K. Aghajanian, A.L. McCormick, B.N. Morgan, and A.F. Liszkiewicz Jr., \"Boron carbide composite bodies, and methods for making same,\" U.S. Pat. No. 7 332 221, 2008. ¹¹S. Hayun, H. Dilman, M.P. Dariel, N. Frage, and S. Dub, \"The effect of carbon source on the microstructure and the mechanical properties of reaction-bonded boron carbide\"; 29527-3939 in Ceramic Transactions, Vol. 209, Advances in Sintering Science and Tevhnology. Edited by E. A. Olevsky and R. Bordia. Wiley, New York, 2010. 12S. Hayun, A. Weizmann, M.P. Dariel, and N. Frage, \"Microstructural evolution during the infiltration of boron carbide with molten silicon,\" J. Eur. Ceram. Soc., 30 [4] 1007527-3914 (2010). 13R. Pampuch, J. Bialoskorski, and E. Walasek, \"Mechanism of reactions in the Si̟₁ + C system and the self-propagating high-temperature synthesis of silicon carbide,\" Ceram. Int., 13 [1] 63-68 (1987). 14J.N. Ness and T.F. Page, “Microstructural evolution in reaction-bonded silicon carbide,\" J. Mater. Sci., 21 [4] 1377-97 (1986). 15A. Favre, H. Fuzellier, and J. Suptil, “An original way to investigate the siliconizing of carbon materials,\" Ceram. Int., 29 [3] 235-43 (2003). 16S. Hayun, A. Weizmann, M.P. Dariel, and N. Frage, \"The effect of particle size distribution on the microstructure and the mechanical properties of boron carbide-based reaction-bonded composites,\" Int. J. Appl. Ceram. Tec., 6 [4] 492-500 (2009). 17S. Hayun, M.P. Dariel, N. Frage, and E. Zaretsky, \"The high-strain-rate dynamic response of boron carbide-based composites: The effect of microstructure,\" Acta Mater., 58 [5] 1721-31 (2010). 18S.K. Lee, Y.C. Kim, and C.H. Kim, \"Microstructural development and mechanical properties of pressureless-sintered SiC with plate-like grains using Al₂O,YO, additives,\" J. Mater. Sci., 29 [20] 5321-26 (1994). 19S. Hayun, N. Frage, and M.P. Dariel, \"The morphology of ceramic phases in BC-SiC-Si infiltrated composites,\" J. Solid State Chem., 179 [9] 2875-79 (2006). 20W. Weibull, \"A statistical distribution function of wide applicability,” J. Appl. Mech., 18, 293-97 (1951). 21S. Hayun, M. Dariel, A. Weizman, and N. Frage. \"Process for manufacturing a composite based on boron carbide,\" Israel (IL) Pat. No. 188517, 2007. www.ceramics.org | American Ceramic Society Bulletin, Vol. 96, No. 6 Annual commodity summary indicates modest growth, incredible potential By April Gocha E very year, the United States Geological Survey Mineral Commodity Summaries provide an annual glimpse into the nonfuel mineral industry, complete with events, trends, and issues for more than 90 minerals and materials. And because raw materials are the starting point for all we do, every year the ACerS Bulletin provides a glimpse into the annual report by pulling out some salient statistics and trends for materials that are integral to our industry. The USGS Mineral Commodity Summaries 2017 provide data and statistics for 2016.1 Minerals contribute to U.S. gross domestic product at several levels, from mining and processing of the materials themselves up through their use to manufacture finished products. USGS estimates the value of nonfuel minerals mined in the U.S. in 2016 was $74.6 billion, up 1.6% from 2015\'s total of $73.4 billion. That increase is partly the result of increased construction activity, which increased production of industrial minerals. Beyond the mine, those raw materials in addition to domesti cally recycled materials were used to process $675 billion worth of mineral materials. And, in turn, these minerals were consumed by downstream industries with a value of $2.78 trillion, a 3% increase from 2015\'s value of $2.69 trillion. In general, 2016 data show an overall decline in the value of metals produced at U.S. mines, a reflection of the continuing trend from 2015 of closing of several mines and processing facilities. The value of metals produced at U.S. mines reached $23 billion in 2016, down 5% from 2015 values. Industrial minerals production reached a 2016 value of $51.6 billion, an increase of 5% over 2015 values. Thirteen mineral commodities were valued at >$1 billion in 2016, with crushed stone, cement, and construction sand/gravel leading the list. American Ceramic Society Bulletin, Vol. 96, No. 6 | www.ceramics.org In addition to producing a variety of minerals, however, the U.S. also imported more than half of its consumption of 50 nonfuel minerals in 2016, mostly from China. Of those 50, 20 were 100% imported—arsenic, asbestos, cesium, fluorspar, gallium, graphite, indium, manganese, mica, niobium, quartz crystal, rare earths, rubidium, scandium, strontium, tantalum, thallium, thorium, vanadium, and yttrium. Many other commodities fall somewhere along the importexport spectrum. For example, the U.S. is >50% net import-reliant on lithium, a mineral that is integral to today\'s technology due to the ubiquity of lithium-ion batteries. According to a June 2017 article in The Economist, lithium demand is expected to triple by 2025.2 And because supply has not been meeting this increasing demand, lithium prices have also increased. According to the article, higher prices are directing investors towards the \"lithium triangle” of South America. This trianglewhere the borders of Argentina, Bolivia, and Chile meet-contains an estimated 54% of the world\'s potential lithium supply. Although the USGS report indicates that Australia currently leads the world in production, Chile is the clear forerunner in terms of reserves-Chile contains more than double the amount of reserves than any other country on the list and accounts for more than half of the total world reserves listed. In regards to the lithium triangle, Chile has begun to capitalize on the incredible commodity market it contains, although Argentina is just starting to realizing its potential, and Bolivia has hardly begun. These differences reflect a complex cache of factors at play in each country, including production costs, investment climate, ease of doing business, level of corruption, quality of bureaucracy, infrastructure, governmental mining regulations, and even geography. But the vast resource potential in this region indicates an imminent expansion of the lithium market in these regions. Similar factors and climates are no doubt in play for many other commodities. What follows on the next few pages is a summary of some of the salient statistics and trends for a handful of mineral commodities that are of particular interest in the ceramic and glass industries. Readers are encouraged to access the complete USGS report at https://on.doi.gov/2siRsvg or by scanning the QR code above. References \'Mineral Commodity Summaries 2017, U.S. Geological Survey, Reston, Va., 2017. 2\"The lithium triangle: The white gold rush,\" The Economist, June 17, 2017. 27 USGS MINERALS COMMODITY SUMMARY Leading producers 2017 highlights Lithium triangle • Argentina • Bolivia • Chile BAUXITE AND ALUMINA End use industries Aluminum smelters, abrasives, chemicals, refractories, ceramics Trend in global production (2015-2016) 0.8% decrease for alumina; 10.6% decrease for bauxite U.S. production U.S. import/export World reserves Leading producer 2.5 million tonnes of alumina >75% net import reliance for bauxite; net exporter of alumina 55-75 billion tonnes Bauxite Alumina BORON Glass, ceramics, 0.3% increase N/A Net exporter Adequate abrasives, C⭑ chemicals, semiconductors CEMENT Construction 2.4% increase 85.4 million tonnes of cement; 77.0 million tonnes of clinker 13% net import reliance Raw materials are abundant CLAYS Tile, sanitaryware, absorbents, drilling mud, construction, refractories, paper, proppants 1.6% increase 25.7 million tonnes (49.8% common clay; 22.2% kaolin; 14.8% bentonite; 12.9% other) Net exporter Extremely large FELDSPAR Glass, tile, pottery 1.3% increase 600,000 tonnes (marketable production) 10% net import reliance Adequate C⭑ GALLIUM Integrated circuits, optoelectronic devices 20% decrease in low-grade primary gallium 0 100% net import reliance Estimate unavailable 28 www.ceramics.org | American Ceramic Society Bulletin, Vol. 96, No. 6 End use industries Trend in global U.S. production U.S. World import/export reserves Leading producer production (2015-2016) GRAPHITE (NATURAL) Brake linings, foundry operations, refractory applica0.8% increase 0 100% net import reliance >800 million tons C⭑ tions, steelmaking INDIUM Flat panel displays, alloys, solders, semiconductors 0 13.7% decrease 100% net import reliance Estimate unavailable IRON AND STEEL Construction, transportation (auto), cans/ containers 0.9% decrease for pig iron; 0.6% decrease for raw steel 23 million tonnes of pig iron; 80 million tonnes of steel 16% net import reliance N/A KYANITE Refractories, abrasives, ceramic products, foundry 4.4% decrease 100,000 tonnes Net exporter Significant products LITHIUM* Ceramics, glass, batteries, grease 11.1% increase N/A >50% net import reliance Significant NIOBIUM Steel industry, 0.5% increase 0 aerospace alloys 100% net import reliance RARE EARTHS Catalysts, metals, magnets, glass polishing 3.1% decrease 0 100% net import reliance More than adequate Relatively abundant in earth\'s crust, but discoverable concentrations uncommon Practically inexhaustible SODA ASH Glass, chemicals, detergents, etc 0.4% increase 11.7 million tonnes Net exporter TITANIUM DIOXIDE (PIGMENT) Paint, plastic, paper, catalysts, ceramics, coated 6.2% increase in production 1.2 million tonnes Net exporter Data not available textiles, floor coverings, inks, etc YTTRIUM Abrasives, bearings and seals, hightemperature refrac37.5% decrease 0 100% net import reliance Reserves are sufficient, but worldtories, jet engine coatings, metallurgy, phosphors wide issues may affect production ZEOLITES (NATURAL) Animal feed, litUnchanged 70,000 tonnes Net exporter ter, odor control, No estimate available cement, water purification, catalysts fertilizer, pesticide, *Significant lithium reserves are also found in the lithium traingle, which includes Argentina, Bolivia, and Chile. See page 27 for further details. American Ceramic Society Bulletin, Vol. 96, No. 6 | www.ceramics.org 29 20 Boron carbide-based armors: Problems and possible solutions Ballistic efficiency 4Al₂O3 (Variant 2) Al2O3 (Variant 1) 3. T 10 15 20 B.C SiC TiB2 B₁C/A₁₂O₂ (50/50) 25 Normalized effective strength 35 Figure 1. Relationship between ballistic efficiency against small arms ammunition and normalized effective strength for several armor ceramics.² Velocity (km/s) 1.1 1.0 Strength 0.9 HEL = Strength 0.8 0.70.6 0.5 0.4HEL 0.3 0.2 BC SiC 0.1 0.0 0.75 0.80 0.85 Time (us) 0.90 0.95 1.00 Figure 2. Shock wave profiles for commercial armor-grade BC and SiC ceramics measured with velocity interferometry diagnostics.³ BC demonstrates postyield softening, which degrades its performance against high-density, highvelocity projectiles. 30 30 By Atta U. Khan, Vladislav Domnich, and Richard A. Haber A critical assessment of recent advances in understanding of the nature and possible root causes of shear-induced amorphization in boron carbide for lightweight armor applications. High hardnbide (B,C) an ideal igh hardness and low density make _boron carbide (BC) an ideal candidate material for lightweight armor applications. Its yield strength in compression under dynamic uniaxial strain loading conditions, known as Hugoniot elastic limit (HEL), is on the order of 15-20 GPa-higher than that observed in any other commonly used armor ceramic. With its high strength and low areal density, BC clearly outperforms other armor ceramics in ballistic testing involving small arms ammunition (Figure 1).² However, quite unexpectedly, the ballistic efficiency of BC against high-density, high-velocity threats is inferior to many other armor ceramics. The literature links this observation to loss of shear strength in BC just above the HEL (Figure 2).³ Whereas many other materials (e.g., silicon carbide (SiC)) become stronger well beyond the HEL, BC demonstrates glasslike fracture under these conditions. In recent years, we have come to realize in the materials science and ballistic community that loss of shear strength might be related to formation of nanometer-sized amorphous bands when BC is subjected to certain critical strains under dynamic impact.¹,4 We believe that such shear-induced amorphous bands might act as nucleation sites for crack initiation, leading to ultimate fracture and fragmentation. Whether or not amorphization is fully responsible for the abrupt degradation of BC under supercritical impact stresses, researchers clearly have demonstrated it occurs in ballistically impacted material and in material subjected to a variety of other contact loading situations, such as static and dynamic indentation, scratching, and machining.¹ Domnich et al.¹ provide an exhaustive overview of BC structure, properties, and amorphization. Phase diagram and substitutional disorder Scientists have debated the phase diagram of BC in general and the homogeneity region in particular for decades.¹ Elliott used a www.ceramics.org | American Ceramic Society Bulletin, Vol. 96, No. 6 Capsule summary TO PROTECT AND SERVE Boron carbide is an ideal material for lightweight armor applications because of its high hardness and low density. Although the material is superior against small arms ammunition, its efficiency against high-density, high-velocity threats is low because of loss of shear strength. good starting point of very-high-purity boron (99.6%) and published the first detailed experimental phase diagram in 1961. However, Elliot ignored losses, although small, during arc melting. He took the existence of eutectic in annealed samples toward the carbonrich end as an indication of maximum solubility of carbon in BC. Key points of this phase diagram (Figure 3) include a homogeneity range of 9.5-19.9-at.% carbon in BC and shifted composition of boron-rich eutectic very close to (B). Despite many other phase diagrams proposed since Elliott\'s original work, his remains the most reliable phase diagram and should be considered when dealing with the homogeneity region of BC. Crystal structure of BC also is controversial, especially regarding location of carbon atoms in the lattice.¹ Extensive diffraction data in the literature have established that the basic building blocks in carbon-rich BC are an icosahedron and a three-atom chain, forming a rhombohedral R3m symmetry (Figure 4).¹ In general, boron forms covalent bonds. MIX IT UP Recent advances in understanding of shearinduced amorphization in boron carbide-particularly with computational efforts that imply possible amorphization mitigation in doped boron carbide-reveal renewed possibilities for boron carbide-based armor materials. However, presence of only three valence electrons hinders the traditional 3-D network based on two-electron covalent bonds. Therefore, boron tends to make icosahedra comprising 12 atoms. We commonly refer to the lattice sites of the six atoms connecting the icosahedra to the end chain as equatorial sites and the remaining six atoms connecting the icosahedra as polar sites. Based on the propensity of boron to form a 12-atom icosahedral network, researchers assumed early that the BC crystal structure was (B₁₂)CCC, B12 for the 12-atom boron icosahedra and CCC for the three-atom carbon chain. This structure provides the necessary 20-at.% carbon concentration in the carbon-rich BC and retains a rhombohedral R3m symmetry. However, later experimental and modeling studies led to the conclusion that in carbon-rich BC, a carbon atom replaces one of the polar boron atoms in the unit cell, rendering the chain composition as CBC. Researchers currently widely accept that no C-C bonds are formed in BC. COMPOSITE POSSIBILITIES Synthesis of composites of boron carbide with other potentially hard phases could reveal other deformation mechanisms involving secondary phases that suppress the amorphization problem, potentially resulting in a material with comparable or even higher hardness. 6.5 12 For more boron-rich compositions, the actual stoichiometry changes from BC (~20-at.% carbon) to almost B₁C (~9-at.% carbon). Substitution of boron atoms for carbon atoms in available lattice sites causes this accommodation. Although exact substitutions in the starting (BC)CBC are a topic of ongoing discussion, researchers have proposed units such as B₁₂ icosahedra, CBB chains, and two-atom BB chains, among others. 1,7,8 One important composition is BC (13.3-at.% carbon), because many physical and mechanical properties appear to change around it.¹ For this composition, ab initio simulations consistently find (B₁2) CBC is the lowest energy structure among all possible atomic configurations. Notably, the (B₁2) CBC structure has a R3m symmetry that is consistent with diffraction refinement data, whereas configurations that include a fixed position for carbon atoms in the icosahedra are inevitably reduced to a monoclinic symmetry. 19 Huhn and Widom used combined ab initio total energy calculations and phenomenologiTemperature (°C) 2450 2400 19.9 29 2375 9.5 2000 2075 1600 B₁C B B₁₁C B12 B 1200 B 10 20 30 40 C (at. %) Figure 3. Phase diagram of B-C system reported by Elliott. Because of use of high-purity boron, it is considered the most reliable phase diagram available. Credit: Khan et al. (A) (B) Figure 4. Principal structural units that comprise the crystal lattice of BC: 12-atom icosahedra and three-atom chains. Atomic configurations corresponding to (A) B40C and (B) B65C compositions. Note the random occupation of icosahedral polar sites by carbon atoms in (A), resulting in substitutional disorder. American Ceramic Society Bulletin, Vol. 96, No. 6 | www.ceramics.org 31 Boron carbide-based armors: Problems and possible solutions (a) 30 (c) Al 19 B B hom Liquid 58. 18 (b) B.C 2050 °C 8 We BO WB 70 WA 9 W 10 WC ()thont AB 1600 °C (d) To NBC ALC 90 C Ti Liquid DO B.C 2150 °C 2160 °C TB, 8C Figure 5. Phase diagrams of various ternary systems: (A) Si-B-C, reported by Telle, 21 where partial isothermal section is converted to a full section for better understanding using same tie lines; (B) W-B-C, reported by Rudy 23; (C) calculated isothermal section of Al-B-C, reported by Lukas, 24 showing significant doping of silicon, tungsten, and aluminum, respectively; and (D) possible composite of BC-TiB2.25 cal thermodynamic modeling to propose alternate carbon substitution in the six available icosahedron polar sites for a (B,C)CBC structure, which would then result in the average rhombohedral symmetry that is observed experimentally. Such substitutional disorder may be an intrinsic property of BC, resulting in a nonzero configurational entropy even at 0 K (as in so-called geometrically frustrated systems). 10 This brings in question the validity of results of the majority of ab initio calculations, which consider stability of specific atomic configurations (often referred as polytypes or polymorphs) based on their total energy. Such calculations treat the material as a mixture of noninteracting polymorphs, thus neglecting configurational disorder. Werheit notes that no superlattice is known so far in BC. Therefore, we must assume that the differently composed elementary cells are randomly distributed. This situation is different very from the ideal crystal with a well-defined unit cell considered in a typical total energy minimization model. Amorphization of BC under contact loading Credit: Khan et al. conceivable that shear stresses primarily drive amorphization of BC. Ivashchenko et al. 14 theoretically addressed the nature of the amorphous phase using molecular dynamics methods. They showed that by stimulating amorphous B-C networks based on a 120-atom rhombohedral BC cell the amorphous phase consists of disordered icosahedra composed mainly of boron atoms connected by topologically disordered B-C and C-C networks. Experimentally, other researchers observed distorted icosahedra within amorphous bands by state-of-the art HRTEM techniques.15 Researchers have used high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) to observe formation of nanosized oriented amorphous bands in BC subjected to quasi-uniaxial compression, static indentation, dynamic indentation, scratching, and ballistic impact. For indented areas and scratch debris, nanoscale bands coagulate and form larger amorphous zones.¹ Within the amorphous zone, nanosized grains of crystalline material with retained orientation might be present, indicating highly anisotropic deformation of BC under stress. In material recovered from plate impact experiments, there is no direct evidence of formation of amorphous material, although some groups interpret the available shock-loading data as indicative of a phase transformation or amorphization. 1,12 Finally, there is no experimental evidence that BC transforms to the amorphous state or experiences any type of phase transformation under hydrostatic compression up to 100 GPa. 1,13 Therefore, it is highly Several groups have theoretically investigated the stability of various BC polytypes. Fanchini et al.16 calculated total energies for various BC configurations under increasing hydrostatic pressure at room temperature. Their results indicate that the energetic barrier for pressure-induced amorphization of BC is lowest for the hypothetical (B₁2)CCC polytype, which is unstable at 6-7 GPa during hydrostatic loading. The authors predict collapse of the (B₁2) CCC structure to result in segregation of the (B₁2) icosahedra and amorphous carbon in the form of 2-3-nm-wide bands along the (113) lattice direction, which favorably correlates with available TEM observations on indented and ballistically loaded samples. Therefore, according to this work, suppressing formation of the (B2)CCC polytype during BC synthesis helps mitigate amorphization and improves ballistic efficiency against highdensity, high-velocity threats. However, validity of these calculations is highly debatable. Fanchini et al.16 predict collapse of the (B)CCC polytype under compression at hydrostatic pressures of only 6-7 GPa, but available experimental data clearly demonstrate that the ambient phase of BC is stable under hydrostatic compression up to 100 GPa. 114 Moreover, there is a compelling evidence that C-C bonds are prohibited in BC. Therefore, a (B2) CCC configuration should not exist in nature.¹ Yan et al. 17 have emphasized the importance of taking into account nonhydrostatic stresses for understanding the stability of BC at high pressures. With a complete set of experiments www.ceramics.org | American Ceramic Society Bulletin, Vol. 96, No. 6 32 using quasi-hydrostatic and quasi-uniaxial compression up to 50 GPa followed by depressurization to ambient pressure on a BC single crystal, the authors engaged in situ Raman spectroscopy to detect possible high-pressure phase transformations. The authors found that under quasi-hydrostatic compression, the material remains a perfect single crystal without visible surface relief and cracking. After they released the pressure, they detected no evidence of amorphization in samples that were loaded hydrostatically. However, results significantly differ when singlecrystal BC is subjected to quasi-uniaxial loading and unloading. In this case, depressurized samples break into numerous smaller fragments; evident cracks, surface relief, and shear bands are optically visible; and in situ Raman spectroscopy reveals formation of amorphous material at 13–16 GPa during unloading of samples that were previously loaded to pressures >25 GPa. Analysis of fully depressurized samples reveals nanosized oriented amorphous bands (HRTEM) and spectral features (Raman) typical for stress amorphized material as observed in indentation and scratching experiments. The same group conducted theoretical simulations of uniaxial loading of BC that indicate a drastic volume change of the (BC)CBC unit cell at a destabilization pressure of 19 GPa (consistent with an HEL of 15-20 GPa) because of bending of the CBC chain. They found that at higher loads, chain deformation continues until the (BC) CBC lattice is irreversibly distorted and that the central boron atom of the chain can bond with neighboring atoms in the icosahedra, forming a higherenergy structure. They propose that release of this energy during depressurization is responsible for collapse of the BC structure and formation of local amorphized bands.17 An et al.18 further corroborated this conclusion using atomistic simulations when they found that the (01ÏÏ)/(1101) slip system in (BC)CBC has the lowest shear strength and that this slip can lead to unique plastic deformation before failure in which a B-C bond between neighboring icosahedra breaks to form a carbon lone pair on the carbon atom within the icosahedron. Further shear leads this carbon atom to form a new bond with the boron atom in the middle of a CBC chain. This then initiates destruction of the icosahedron, leading to formation of a nanoscale amorphous band. As a remedy to mitigate amorphization in BC, An et al. propose to modify the BC synthesis processes to suppress formation of BC icosahedra. They propose to achieve this result, in particular, by synthesizing more boron-rich BC, because they believed that B₁₁C units are mostly replaced by B₁ icosahedra for the B65C composition. 11 P 6.5 P Calculations by Taylor et al. 19 determined that yield strength of the (B2)CBC configuration under shear strain is on the order of 30-40 GPa-about twice that of other structures involving carbon atoms in the icosahedron. This implies that B6C may be most stable under shear loading, further emphasizing the importance of investigating boron-rich boron carbides for possible mitigation of shear-induced amorphization and making material with improved ballistic performance. Similar to other modeling work, 17,18 Taylor et al. propose that softening of shear moduli is associated with formation of new American Ceramic Society Bulletin, Vol. 96, No. 6 | www.ceramics.org bonds between the unsaturated central atom in the threeatom chain with equatorial atoms in neighboring icosahedra. Uniaxial and hydrostatic loading decreases spacing between the central chain and equatorial atoms, and formation of these new bonds results in a more energetically favorable configuration. Amorphization mitigation through elemental doping One way to improve the mechanical properties of BC, especially its fracture toughness, is doping. Numerous reports have been published related to doping of BC with various elements. An and Goddard 20 reported a possibility of replacing C-B-C with Si-Si chains, claiming it leads to more ductile BC. Their calculations show that as high as ~ 14 at.% silicon can be added to BC. This work triggered widespread interest in the BC community regarding silicon doping. However, Telle reported a maximum silicon solubility of 2.5 ± 0.5 at.% in BC at 2,050°C, and even lower solubility at lower temperatures, in contradiction to what was found through simulations. Therefore, we need to understand phase equilibria of this system. We converted the partial isothermal section of Telle\'s work to a full isothermal section using reported tie lines (Figure 5(A)). This section shows that the maximum solubility of silicon is around BC, composition. Telle also reports that silicon doping kicks carbon out of the BC lattice. In addition, silicon reacts with free carbon present in BC, detrimental to its hardXeracarb A division of Capital Refractories Armor Solutions Patented sialon bonded silicon carbide material for body, vehicle and aircraft armor applications Suitable for NIJ III, NIJ III++ and NIJ IV at a competitive weight/aerial density with good multi-hit capability CAPITAL REFRACTORIES GROUP High performance + low cost Bespoke design and complex shapes Rapid prototyping Capital Refractories Inc. supply a comprehensive range of shaped and unshaped refractory solutions for metal melting applications. www.xeracarb.com Capital Refractories Inc. 1548 Mims avenue S.W.,Birmingham, AL 35211 www.capital-refractories.com 33 Temperature (°C) Boron carbide-based armors: Problems and possible solutions 34003225 ± 20 3200300028002600(A) L 24002310 ± 15 <2% 88% ± 3% 2200Temperature (°C) 26002500L 2400(B) 230020002300 B₁C₁₂ SiC 18000 20 40 60 80 TIB₂ Composition (mol%) 100 BC 0 10 20 30 40 50 80 B Silicon composition (at.%) OB 20 C 50 C 0 Si 50 Si Figure 6. Pseudo-binary phase diagram of (A) TiB₂-BC as reported by Rudy and Windsch25 and (B) BC-SiC as reported by Secrist, 26 indicating eutectics. ness, and converts it to a more desirable SiC. Most often, BC is sintered by using either spark plasma sintering (SPS) or uniaxial hot pressing at ~2,050°C ± 150°C. Therefore, we conclude that, at least with these two techniques, maximum solubility of silicon in BC cannot be achieved. Instead, silicon solubility remains close to the reported 2.5 ± 0.5 at.%. However, we can realize higher silicon doping using other techniques, such as arc melting, where the temperature usually is much higher. However, no one has reported higher silicon solubility yet. The aforementioned report by An and Goddard regarding the possible impact of silicon doping on fracture toughness inspires us to consider other doping elements. Encouraged by that possibility, we briefly summarize here a few potential doping elements based on reported phase diagrams. Figures 5(B) and 5(C) illustrate considerable solubility of tungsten and aluminum in BC. Although we have not theoretically evaluated the effect of these elements, they might present similar results. Additionally, presence of aluminum melt in equilibrium with BC suggests that we can use this liquid as a sintering aid for BC and help sinter this material at lower temperatures. Among all experimental or calculated published ternary systems, aluminum shows the highest amount of doping in BC and may significantly change fracture toughness, hardness, 34 etc. Moreover, a different B/C ratio would result in a different amount of dopants. Although there is very low solubility of titanium in BC (Figure 5(D)), combined doping of titanium and zirconium is effective in improving hardness, compressive strength, and impact elasticity of BC.22 Presumably, improved impact elasticity is associated with an increase of free electrons from the doped metal atoms, while preserving the covalent bonding responsible for high hardness and resulting in retained hardness. Therefore, multiple doping elements at the same time could be a route to a less amorphized and harder BC with better elastic response to ballistic impact. Generally, we observe maximum solubility around a B₁3C2 composition for almost all doping elements. In addition, higher boron content as compared with BC might better resist amorphization, although hardness may decrease. 19 Therefore, we should target doping around a BC, composition. 13 Moreover, the low atomic weight of magnesium makes it an interesting candidate for BC doping. Recent experiments in our laboratory indicate a significant amount of magnesium doping in BC, and we observed no considerable oxidation of this sintered material. However, we are evaluating its effect on mitigation of amorphization, fracture toughness, and hardness. Improving ballistic efficiency through composites One way that we circumvent the amorphization problem in BC is to make composites. We believe that amorphized bands are responsible for crack initiation and growth and that secondary phases may hinder these cracks, preventing the material from failure. However, we recognize that there are certain prerequisites to meet before considering a composite. One of the most important parameters is a comparable hardness of the second phase. In addition, overall density of the composite should not exceed that in conventional armor materials. Further, armors in general and body armors in particular should be lightweight. Figure 5(D) shows that BC and TiB, are in thermodynamic equilibrium at 2,160°C, which is close to the general sintering temperature of BC. TiB, also has high hardness. Therefore, its composites could be possible armor materials. Although TiB₂ has a rather high density, around 10 wt.% of it could be used to result in an overall density of <3 g/cm³, well within the acceptable limits for body armors. ZrB2 or HfB₂ also lie in thermodynamic equilibrium with BC, but their high density hinders use as a composite material. Moreover, the hardness of these materials is comparable to TiB₂, but their prices are generally higher than TiB₂. Therefore, it is not worth considering these two compounds for armors. www.ceramics.org | American Ceramic Society Bulletin, Vol. 96, No. 6 Credit: Khan et al. However, it is desirable to check phase diagrams before attempting to make possible composites of various interesting compounds. For example, WC is a very hard material, and we may think about making a composite of it with BC. However, Figure 5(B) illustrates that these two phases are not in equilibrium, and sintering these two phases together will form other phases that may have properties very different from the targeted ones. It also is immensely important that we control the microstructure of the final materials. Well-dispersed secondary phases are far more effective, and finer grains could increase hardness. Generally, very fine grain size of eutectics makes them attractive for improved hardness. Lamellar microstructures may result in better fracture toughness as well. A eutectic exists comprising BC and TiB. Eutectic microstructure in addition to the intrinsic high hardness of constituent phases could lead to harder and stronger armor materials. Figure 6 shows two possible eutectics consisting of BC-TiB, and BCSiC. We already use SiC for body armor. However, its relatively high density and rather lower hardness make it vulnerable to emerging threats. SiC composites with BC and, more importantly, eutectic microstructure with BC holds promise and may overcome the intrinsic problems of standalone BC or SiC. Acknowledgments The authors thank Chawon Hwang of Rutgers University for insightful discussions. This research was sponsored by the Army Research Laboratory under Cooperative Agreement No. W911NF-12-2-0022, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency under Grant No. W31P4Q-13-1-0001, and the National Science Foundation I/UCRC Directorate under Award No.1540027. About the authors Atta U. Khan, Vladislav Domnich, and Richard A. Haber are with the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at Rutgers University (Piscataway, N.J.). Contact Haber at rich. haber@rutgers.edu. References \'V. Domnich, S. Reynaud, R.A. Haber, and M. Chhowalla, \"Boron carbide: Structure, properties, and stability under stress,\" J. Am. Ceram. 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Turchi, \"First-principles study of the atomic and electronic structures of crystalline and amorphous BC,” Phys. Rev. B, 80 [23] 235208 (2009). 15K.M. Reddy, P. Liu, A. Hirata, T. Fujita, and M.W. Chen, \"Atomic structure of amorphous shear bands in boron carbide,\" Nat. Commun., 4, 2483 (2013). 16G. Fanchini, J.W. McCauley, and M. Chhowalla, \"Behavior of disordered boron carbide under stress,\" Phys. Rev. Lett., 97 [3] 035502 (2006). 17X.Q. Yan, Z. Tang, L. Zhang, J.J. Guo, C.Q. Jin, Y. Zhang, T. Goto, J.W. McCauley, and M.W. Chen, \"Depressurization amorphization of single-crystal boron carbide,” Phys. Rev. Lett., 102 [7] 075505 (2009). 18Q. An, W.A. Goddard, and T. Cheng, \"Atomistic explanation of shear-induced amorphous band formation in boron carbide,\" Phys. Rev. Lett., 113 [9] 095501 (2014). 19D.E. Taylor, J.W. McCauley, and T.W. Wright, \"The effects of stoichiometry on the mechanical properties of icosahedral boron carbide under loading,\" J. Phys.: Condens. Mater., 24 [50] 505402 (2012). 20Q. An and W.A. Goddard, \"Microalloying boron carbide with silicon to achieve dramatically improved ductility,\" J. Phys. Chem. Lett., 5 [23] 4169-74 (2014). 21R. Telle, \"Structure and properties of Si-doped boron carbide\"; pp. 249-67 in The Physics and Chemistry of Carbides, Nitrides, and Borides, Vol. 185. Edited by R. Freer. Springer, Netherlands, 1990. 22Z.D. Kovziridze, Z. Mestvirishvili, G. Tabatadze, N.S. Nizharadze, M. Mshvildadze, and E. Nikoleishvili, \"Improvement of boron carbide mechanical properties in BC-TiB, and B.C-ZrB2 systems,\" J. Electron. Cool. Therm. Contr., 3, 43-48 (2013). 23E. Rudy, \"Experimental phase equilibria of selected binary, ternary, and higher-order systems. Part V. The phase diagram W-B-C,\" Report No. AFML TR 69-117 Part 5, Air Force Materials Laboratory, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, 1970. 24H.L. Lukas, Constitution of Ternary Alloys, Vol. 3, pp. 140-46. Edited by G. Petzow and G. Effenberg. VCH, Weinheim, Germany, 1990. 25E. Rudy and S. Windisch, \"Ternary phase equilibria in transition-metal-boron-carbon-silicon systems. Part II. Ternary systems. Vol. XIII. Phase diagrams of the systems Ti-B-C, Zr-B-C, and Hf-B-C,\" Report No. AFML-TR-65-2, Air Force Materials Laboratory, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, 1966. 26D.R. Secrist, \"Phase equilibria in the system boron carbide-silicon carbide,\" J. Am. Ceram. Soc., 47 [3] 127-30 (1964). Silica Exposure Control Pan Will your company be ready when the new OSHA regulations for Respirable Crystalline Silica go into effect in 2018? We can help. Contact us today. Robo ent Improving Lives through Clean Air™ ROBOVENT.COM • 888.ROBOVENT American Ceramic Society Bulletin, Vol. 96, No. 6 | www.ceramics.org 35 SIEMENS Figure 1. Assembly of Siemens SGT6-8000H gas turbine rotor blades with ceramic coating. By Wolfgang Rossner German academic, government, and industry experts prioritized five core applications for ceramic R&D in a roadmap and follow-up study. 36 Credit: Siemens (www.siemens.com/press) Future of highperformance ceramicsThe German perspective G ermany is as an international leader in research, development, and application of advanced ceramics and has a long-term distinguished network of universities, research institutes, and industrial laboratories. During the past decade, a joint committee on high-performance ceramics of the German Ceramic Society (DKG) and German Materials Science Society (DGM) in collaboration with the Association of German Ceramic Industry (VKI) initiated an intensive dialogue among ceramic experts. The aim was to identify substantial trends in R&D and industrial applications of ceramics, develop a roadmap until the year 2025, and describe the future potential of high-performance ceramics to stimulate governmental research funding in Germany and increase awareness of these materials in industry and society. As a follow-up to publication of the German Ceramic Roadmap in 2008,¹ experts published a study in 2014, “Future potential of high-performance ceramics,\"² and several summary articles in 2015.3 The roadmap and study were based on a multistep procedure from questionnaires, interviews, and application-oriented workshops with more than 60 academic, governmental, and industrial ceramic experts. The 2008 roadmap identified valuable application and research needs for meeting the challenges of global megatrends. The 2014 study focused on industrial impact and primary future applications of high-performance ceramics. In accordance with the German definition of ceramics, the study did not include carbon, glass, cement, or semiconductor materials. Perspectives from an application point of view The German collaboration identified five core application fields that are expected to have an essential impact on ecology, economy, and society in the next decades: power engineering; chemical, mechanical, and plant engineering; mobility; electrical engineering and optics; and life sciences. www.ceramics.org | American Ceramic Society Bulletin, Vol. 96, No. 6 Power engineering In conventional power engineering, the future will focus on fiber-reinforced ceramics, especially ceramic-matrix composites (CMCs). In hot gas zones of stationary and aircraft gas turbines, CMCs offer disruptive improvements in conversion efficiency by increasing turbine inlet temperature and reducing component cooling (Figure 1). These changes can reduce remarkably fuel consumption and exhaust gas emissions for resource and climate protection. Various aspects of ceramic hot gas zone components require intensive R&D efforts, including thermal and structural integrity, creep resistance for moving parts, protective coatings, joining technologies, simulation-based design tools, and advanced and automated production processes for complex shapes. Stationary power storage is expected to be another high-potential area for high-performance ceramics. For stationary storage in the kilowatt-hour to megawatt-hour range, lithium-ion batteries and redox-flow batteries as well as ceramics NaS and NaNiClI may benefit from new ceramic electrolyte geometries, such as those based on B-Al2O3, ceramic solid-ionic conductors, new cathode materials, and packaging technologies. A success factor will be to develop and adapt ceramic processing technologies for large-volume production of battery components to reduce cost of battery systems to less than 300 €/kW.h. For renewable energy, a focus is directed to high-power magnetic materials for wind power systems, where an increasing demand for magnets is expected. This includes synergy to electric drives in electro-mobility (e-mobility) as well. Topics for further development include novel magnetic material compositions for reducing high-cost rare-earth content and improved hard ferrites for competing with Nd-Fe magnets as well as soft magnets, such as those with high saturation flux density and low dissipation for battery chargers and inverters. Ceramic-based solid-oxide fuel cell technology is not prioritized because of its high industrial maturity and market introduction during recent years as well as previous intensive funding in Germany. Chemical, mechanical, and plant engineering High-performance ceramics for chemical, mechanical, and plant engineering are covering an extraordinarily wide range of requirements for ceramic component capability. Besides growing challenges with respect to low-cost and adequate production technologies as well as system integration, a future focus is on structural applications with high mechanical, chemical, and thermal loads. As an example, new composite materials, especially ceramic-filled polymers, are promising approaches to lower friction and weight for ceramic parts in pump systems. Functional applications related to chemical and biological processing represent another focus. This is related to ceramic membranes for separation, adsorption, and selective transport of and in liquids by defined pore sizes and porosities and gas separation membranes operating at high temperatures. Research needs comprise new principles for nanoscale pore formation as well as advanced ceramic-ceramic and ceramic-steel joining processes on the system engineering level. Mobility In the application field, mobility ceramic components already have wideranging applications in automotive engineering (Figure 2). More attention will focus on conventional combustion engines and power electronics as well as batteries for e-mobility. In addition, ceramics can contribute to developments to meet stricter emission targets for combustion engines. Reassessing former ceramic solution concepts with today\'s Figure 2. Applications of ceramic components in automotive engineering. American Ceramic Society Bulletin, Vol. 96, No. 6 | www.ceramics.org 37 Credit: CeramTec Future of high-performance ceramics-The German perspective ceramic converters, 3-D shaping, and inorganic joining have high application potential. For LED substrates, alumina and aluminum nitride will remain materials of choice, but further effort g is needed to reduce production and system costs with new processing technologies and designs, such as for ultrathin substrates. Figure 3. Femoral component for a ceramic knee joint. knowledge of ceramic materials and production may identify novel technical and economic perspectives. There is potential for thermomanagement in the drive train and exhaust-gas systems (e.g., by reducing friction and heat losses) and cleaning of exhaust gases by catalytic converters and filters, especially for diesel engines. With the trend for increasing electrification of cars and commercial vehicles, functional ceramics, such as soft magnetic ferrites and dielectrics, will be of future importance. For e-mobility, energy density, lifetime, and reliability will play a significant role in the future of battery systems. Ceramic materials and technologies have potential to offer novel solutions, such as those related to protective and separator coatings, solid-state electrolytes, and packaging. Electrical engineering Passive electrical ceramic components are indispensable in electrical engineering and are influenced by trends toward higher powder density, further miniaturization, and cost reduction. Key aspects are substitution of raw materials, process development, widening of application conditions toward higher temperatures, process and component simulation, and minimization of material defects from mesoscopic to submicroscopic levels. In optics, modern lighting technology by light-emitting diodes (LEDs) will require further progress for ceramic phosphors used as wavelength converters and for ceramic substrates. For ceramic phosphors, low-cost production processes are crucial. At the same time, a wider spectrum of useable phosphors, multicomponent 38 Life science In life science, a focus is on implants and prosthetics, for which Germany has substantial innovation and application strength. There remain demands on higher fracture strength for joint endoprosthetics, where the fracture rate of ceramic cup inserts is unsatisfactory (Figure 3). In addition, ceramic-ceramic wear couples suffer from subluxation and so-called chipping. With regard to long-term reliability, tailored dispersion ceramics and ceramic composites represent interesting further developments. SO Although non-oxide high-performance ceramics, with their high phase stability and extreme mechanical loadability, far have not been a focus for life sciences, they may have clinical potential. For example, silicon nitride exhibits cytocompatible behavior. Other innovative aspects also exist in synthetically prepared calcium phosphate as bone substitutes and biodegradable glasses. A special focus is developing on structuring and functionalization of implant surfaces for better bone and osseointegration. In dental applications, especially for zirconia (Y-TZP), research is required to optimize materials to meet the demands of fully anatomical dental ceramic restorations. Cross-sectional future topics In addition to application-related foresight, cross-material and cross-application topics have been selected that offer interesting potential for innovative progress and synergy following current research trends. • Modern ceramic process engineering follows several principal directions, including reduced size and frequency of defects, processing of nanodispersed starting materials, compound shaping, reduction in carbon footprint, and support with modeling and simulation tools. • The potential of polymer-derived ceramics (PDCs) does not seem to be fully leveraged. Therefore, further research is needed to adapt thermal transformation processes and optimize processing of polymers, including casting and impregnationwhich are relevant especially for e-mobility and environmental engineering. • For next-generation cellular ceramic materials, further research can optimize low-cost materials with open and closed cell structures for fluid dynamic processes in all temperature ranges. Possibilities for improving strength, catalytic function, in-depth understanding of functioning, improved resolution of nondestructive analysis, and 3-D property analysis are just a few examples of future research aspects. • The new branch of additive manufacturing of ceramics is not yet widespread, but small parts (e.g., dense alumina) have been demonstrated with various additive manufacturing processes (Figure 4). Objectives for current developments are larger parts with dense microstructures, wider range of materials, and expanded supply of machines for industrial manufacturing. A future attractive potential is manufacturing ceramic components that cannot be realized with established technologies or only at very high costs, such as graded structures, complex cavities and channel systems, local material variation, and multiple material components. • Field-assisted sintering technologies are low-voltage, pressure-assisted sintering activated with pulsed current, which in principle significantly reduces total process time and energy costs. However, for higher maturity, considerable research is required to fundamentally understand transient mechanisms during sintering and the interaction of electric/magnetic fields as well as defect and microstructure formation and mobility of species from atomic to macroscopic levels. · Lifetime and reliability of \"brittle\" ceramics for all industrial applications is of high importance. Finite element methwww.ceramics.org | American Ceramic Society Bulletin, Vol. 96, No. 6 Figure 4. Additively manufactured ceramic components using lithography-based ceramic manufacturing (LCM) technology. ods (FEMs) already are indispensable to design ceramic materials and components and describe their behavior in application conditions. \"Ceramic-compatible design\" enhances the integrative approach with intensive use of FEM-communicating developed concepts for design and assessment and making these applicable by design engineers-and overall interdisciplinary collective research. • . Advanced material and process diagnostics is key for continuous improvement of quality, reliability, and cost efficiency, especially for high-performance ceramics. Future challenges are seen for high-resolution from submicrometer to nanometer range, toward complex layer and composite structures as well as nondestructive testing. Material modeling can calculate and predict properties and behavior with macroscopic-, mesoscopic-, and atomiclevel models. Especially for complex material systems of high-performance ceramics, this would enable shortening of the usually long innovation cycle (~10 years) for ceramics. The Materials Genome Initiative in the United States is facing this challenge to halve the time required for discovery. As an alternative with lower complexity, the German roadmap proposes to expand existing competences in the academic community with a focus on complex ceramic material systems. Further research is necessary for suitable material models, for description of fundamental atomic interactions and crystal structures of ceramic materials, and multiscale approaches and tools for day-to-day R&D in industry. Core aspects of future research requirements This study derived fundamental, preliminary, and applied R&D topics for future application perspectives. Crossapplication core research aspects for joint efforts of industry and science follow. Understanding property-microstructure relationships must be enhanced to fully exploit potential capabilities and enable novel ceramic material concepts. This is of special importance for ceramic composite materials, such as fiber-reinforced ceramics and ceramicmetal-polymer and other hybrid materials because of their much more complex microstructural compositions. • Innovative process chains from raw materials to component production and final system integration require R&D efforts to maintain high competitiveness of ceramics. Novel technologies that can generate disruptive progress, such as additive manufacturing or field-assisted sintering, have to be explored. In this context, industrial upscaling, material and energy efficiency, and maximized production yield will remain main factors for market success. • To expand the application spectrum, ceramic-compatible design based on FEMS on all scales of ceramic components, cost-benefit analysis on a system level and over the complete lifecycle, and lifetime and reliability prediction will be of increasing importance. New perspectives are expected in previously ceramicatypical areas, including advanced battery technologies and innovative magnetic materials. • Besides further increasing interdisciplinary material diagnostics and multiscale materials modeling, reducing the relatively long innovation cycles of high-performance ceramics is a long-term development need. In particular, more detailed material models are needed to satisfy high requirements for complex architectures of ceramic materials. In many fields, high-performance American Ceramic Society Bulletin, Vol. 96, No. 6 | www.ceramics.org ceramics have outstanding roles as key components that determine entire system performance and are of competitive importance as a value multiplier. Germany\'s future international competitiveness in user, producer, and processing ceramic industries depends on stronger networking between interdisciplinary fundamental and preliminary research, application-oriented component and technology development up to system integration. This is a joint task of academia and industry that also requires long-term-oriented governmental funding on a strategic level. The study has been distributed to the ceramic community through publication and was presented at conferences as well as to governmental boards at the German Ministry of Education and Research. In addition, a dialogue with the Japan Fine Ceramics Association supported development of the Fine Ceramics Roadmap 2050 of Japan published 2016.5 About the author Wolfgang Rossner is retired research manager of corporate technology at Siemens AG (Munich, Germany). He also cochairs a joint board of the German Ceramic Society and German Society for Materials for advanced ceramics. Contact Rossner at WIRossner@t-online.de. References \'J. Rödel, M. Weissenberger-Eibl, A. Kounga, D.J. Koch, A. Bierwisch, W. Rossner, M.J. Hoffmann, and G. Schneider, Hochleistungskeramik 2025-Strategieinitiative für die Keramikforschung in Deutschland, 2008, ISBN 978-88355-364-1. 2B. Voigtsberger, W. Rossner, R. Lenk, and K. Joachim, Zukunftspotenziale von Hochleistungskeramiken, May 2014, ISBN 9783-00-045777-7. 3B. Voigtsberger, et al., cfi/Ber. DKG, 92 [9] E27-28 (2015); 92 [10-11] E187-190 (2015); 92 [12] E29-35 (2015); 92 [12] E36-40 (2015). 4J. Rödel, A.B.N. Kounga, M. WeissenbergerEibl, D.J. Koch, A. Bierwisch, W. Rossner, M.J. Hoffmann, R. Danzer, and G. Schneider, \"Development of a roadmap of advanced ceramics: 2010-2015,\"J. Eur. Ceram. Soc., 29, 1549-60 (2009), \"Japan Fine Ceramics Association, FC Roadmap 2050, 2016. 39 rob.select odifi For th bpy.com Vected ejects ror ob bpy.context.active object Pror ob.select False pop modifier (\"popped\") tier ob difier ob bpy.ntext.selected objectsfol t(\"Modifier object: str(modifier one) odifier ob.sp int(\"mirror ob\",mirror_ob) nt(\"modifier ob\", modifier_ob) irror difler on rror mod modifier ob.modifiers.new(\"airror mirror\", \"ERROR\") irror object to wire on rror_mod.mirror_object-mirror_ob eration \"MIRROR_X\": rror wod Big data meets materials science: Training the future generation By Elizabeth Dickey and Greer Arthur Capitalizing on the promise of \"big data\" will require materials scientists who are trained in data informatics. Several universities are answering the call. 40 40 \"Big data\" is making big changes to all fields of science and engineering and revolutionizing the way researchers work and interact. The data revolution in materials and ceramics research has been driven principally by two major developments: multi-billion-dollar investments in scientific characterization instrumentation at federal laboratories¹ and universities² during the past two decades; and advances in high-throughput computational materials discovery.34 Further, real-time sensing coupled with robust data analytics has transformed product development and manufacturing. This area has become a target for investment by several large manufacturing companies and has since been referred to as the Industrial Internet of Things (IIOT). Big data is characterized by the \"three Vs\"-volume, velocity, and variety and materials research is seeing huge growth along each of these facets. As an example, the Advanced Photon Source at Argonne National Laboratory can generate more than one terabyte of data per day from some beamlines, which is expected to increase to hundreds of terabytes or even petabytes per day in 10 years. With the diversity of sources from which materials scientists can now harvest big data, leading to increases in data variety, challenges come during the analysis phase, when something meaningful must be deduced from multiple large datasets. In all of these cases, adding statistical data sciences to the other three paradigms of materials science-empirical, theoretical, and computational-likely will prove significant in successfully handling and utilizing big data.6 www.ceramics.org | American Ceramic Society Bulletin, Vol. 96, No. 6 Data generation Data transfer Share Online processing and analysis Date compression Data qualification and anlysis - Data visualization - Dissemination - Curation Data discovery Figure 1. An infrastructure for data informatics can improve every stage of materials research and development, from initial collection of data and transmission, through its quantification and analysis, to its final dissemination and curation. To keep pace, we must develop an infrastructure for data informatics that we can implement at every stage of materials research and developmentfrom initial collection of data and transmission, through its quantification and analysis, to its final dissemination and curation (Figure 1). 7,8 Further, we must use data informatics as a sifting tool to reveal information hidden within big data to facilitate new discoveries in materials science. Recently, researchers articulated a demand for \"big-deep-smart data” within the Materials Genome Initiative (MGI), which motivates integrating materials physics with advanced statistical and computational approaches to data analysis and machine learning. The ultimate goal is to create new knowledge from the flood of materials data. Further, unprecedented opportunities occur for us to integrate information from multiple characterization and modeling datasets. This perhaps is best exemplified in the field of materials structure determination. We can approach deducing the crystallographic structure of a new material from a variety of experimental and computational techniques (e.g., X-ray diffraction, neutron scattering, electron diffraction, and imaging on the experimental front and density functional theory and molecular dynamics on the computational front). Each has a unique sensitivity to various aspects and scales of the material\'s structure. Despite the fact that information from each technique is complementary, it is rare that data are fully assimilated into a coherent model of atomic structure, and analyses of individual datasets sometimes result in numerous-even conflicting-descriptions of the same material. 10 Training the next generation of scientists and engineers We will ultimately guide future materials science knowledge while accelerating material discovery and design by unifying the fourth paradigm of statistical data sciences with the empirical, theoretical, and computational paradigms of materials science. Importantly, this shift in scientific methodology demands a response in the way we train students to ensure the new investment in big data-driven science is prosperous and sustainable. During the late 20th century, Integrated Computational Materials Engineering (ICME) emerged as an answer to the growing importance of modeling and simulation in materials science and engineering. Today, we integrate computational materials science into most undergraduate and graduate curricula.\" Likewise, the educational landscape for what has been termed “Data Enabled Science and Engineering\" (DESE) is just beginning to emerge as an interdisciplinary collaboration among physical scientists, statisticians, applied mathReport identifies major hurdles and provides recommendations for materials data infrastructure The Minerals, Metals & Materials Society (Pittsburgh, Pa.) recently organized a study on behalf of the National Science Foundation that aims to inform, guide, and motivate development of a materials data infrastructure to overcome challenges in harnessing data so that it can effectively serve the materials community. The rich 2017 report from that study, Building a Materials Data Infrstructure: Opening New Pathways to Discovery and Innovation in Science and Engineering, is available at www.tms.org/mdistudy. ematicians, and computer scientists. To support this development, the National Science Foundation (NSF) is investing in transformative graduate research models that transcend the traditional boundaries between disciplines, while simultaneously equipping graduate students with the skills needed to become competent, professional leaders in a broad range of career paths. In 2014, NSF launched its Research Traineeship (NRT) program, which awards projects that use bold and innovative approaches to graduate education while focusing on cross-disciplinary teaching and learning within a nationally important topic. Currently, DESE is one such high-priority research area. Creation and utilization of resources with key stakeholders within private sectors, nongovernmental organizations, national laboratories, governmental agencies, field stations, teaching and learning centers, informal science centers, and academic partners is a key component of NRT programs. Broadening participation of under-served populations of students in STEM disciplines is a second component of the NRT programs. To date, NSF has awarded $76.7 million to 40 NRT projects, 14 of which have an emphasis on DESE. Several NRT-DESE programs will have a direct impact on ceramics research. At Texas A&M University (College Station, Texas), faculty in the Colleges of Science and Engineering have teamed with faculty from the Center for Teaching Excellence to develop an interdisciplinary DataEnabled Discovery and Development of Energy Materials (D³EM) graduate program. By combining expertise from materials science, informatics, engineering systems design, and STEM graduate education, the program aims to bridge the gap between materials science and data science by merging new accelerated mateAmerican Ceramic Society Bulletin, Vol. 96, No. 6 | www.ceramics.org 41 Big data meets materials science: Training the future generation Materials science D3EM Design Informatics Figure 2. Texas A&M University\'s interdisciplinary Data-Enabled Discovery and Development of Energy Materials (D³EM) graduate program merges new accelerated materials development with engineering systems design, utilizing skills from materials science, design, and informatics. rials development with the discipline of engineering systems design, utilizing skills from materials science, design, and informatics (Figure 2). The program pursues the hypothesis that by learning from theories, concepts, and methods of various disciplines, it can create a cultural tool to facilitate this interdisciplinary transition. Established in 2015, D³EM consists of a technical interdisciplinary component and a strong professional development curriculum. The technical component is implemented at Texas A&M University as an Interdisciplinary Graduate Certificate, which consists of cross-disciplinary and interdisciplinary components. After a first year of grounding in their respective disciplines, D³EM students enroll in three courses: materials science, materials informatics, and advanced product design. The following semester, students enroll in a materials design studio, a project-based, capstone design-inspired course developed by D³EM\'s principal investigator, Raymundo Arroyave. In the design studio, students use ideas from informatics, design, decision theory, optimization, and search to solve realistic materials design, development, or discovery problems that ideally are connected to the student\'s research. The first D³EM student cohort has gone through the certificate curriculum and successfully completed materials design studio projects. Debra Fowler, D³EM coprincipal investigator, designed the professional 42 development component of the D³EM certificate. It consists of A learning community, where students explore various ideas related to ethics, interdisciplinarity, collaboration, conflict resolution, etc.; A writing community centered around the Texas A&M Department of Education and Human Development\'s Promoting Outstanding Writing for Excellence in Research (POWER) writing program, lead by a POWER-certified consultant; and • A coffee session facilitated by D³EMaffiliated faculty, where various aspects of academic- and industry-based research are discussed in an informal setting. These activities are complemented by a comprehensive optional internship program in which students acquire experience in industry and apply interdisciplinary technical skills that they acquired during the certificate program. D³EM recently established a partnership with the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory to double the size of the program through creation of an AFRLMinority Leadership Program extension that will train underrepresented groups in this revolutionary method of materials development. The Texas A&M Office of APPLICATIONS/TECHNOLOGIES Scientists EDUCATION Measurement Computational Mathematicians & Statisticians DIVERSITY Modelers TRANSFER KNOWLEDGE Figure 3. North Carolina State University\'s Data-Enabled Science and Engineering of Atomic Structure (SEAS) graduate training program assembles measurement scientists, computational materials scientists, applied mathematicians, and statisticians to address atomic structure determination. Graduate and Professional Studies and the College of Engineering Academic and Student Affairs Office make the D³EM expansion possible with additional support. D3EM currently is seeking other avenues to expand the reach of the program. For more information, visit https://d3em.tamu.edu. More recently, North Carolina State University (Raleigh, N.C.) launched another NRT-DESE program in the fall Quantifying order and disorder in ferroelectric materials The Center for Dielectrics and Piezoelectrics (CDP) is an NSF Industry/University Cooperative Research Center (I/UCRC) that aims to provide international leadership and train next-generation scientists in the fundamental science and engineering that underpin dielectric and piezoelectric materials. CDP supports industries based on capacitor and piezoelectric materials and devices through the development of new materials, processing strategies, electrical testing, and nanoscale characterization and modeling methodologies. Several research projects within CDP focus on topics of relevance to DESE, most notably those associated with local structure determination via aberration-corrected transmission electron microscopy, electron diffractometry, and X-ray diffractometry. SEAS-NRT fellows Matthew Cabral (Department of Material Science and Engineering) and Jocelyn Chi (Department of Statistics) use spatial statistical analysis of aberration-corrected STEM images to quantify local variations in chemistry and atomic positions in complex dielectrics, such as relaxor ferroelectrics. Their goal is to understand the origins of very high electromechanical responses of this class of ceramics. The link to CDP provides a natural mechanism to translate statistical concepts and methods to industry research and development. For more information, visit the CDP website at www.cdp.ncsu.edu. Credit: NCSU SEAS www.ceramics.org | American Ceramic Society Bulletin, Vol. 96, No. 6 of 2016. Here, the Data-Enabled Science and Engineering of Atomic Structure (SEAS) NRT program addresses the demand for a new generation of interdisciplinary, data-driven scientists who can apply advanced statistical and mathematical methods to atomic structure data generated from cutting-edge scattering and imaging experiments as well as high-throughput atomistic computation. This interdisciplinary graduate training program assembles measurement scientists, computational materials scientists, applied mathematicians, and statisticians, who together address research and educational challenges associated with atomic structure determination (Figure 3). The SEAS NRT program at N.C. State developed a comprehensive graduate curriculum that aims to • Produce scientists and engineers who can respond to opportunities and challenges resulting from state-of-the-art experimental, computational, and statistical tools that produce and manage big data; • Bridge knowledge gaps across disciplines; • Foster collaborative interactions; Bayesian inference meets materials science With the complexities of big data comes the necessity to develop more powerful statistical methods. In diffractometry, the leading method for studying material phases, classical statistics has dominated the analysis. New methods are arriving, although they are not yet broadly adopted. For example, if we were to ask a group of experimental ceramists if they have heard of \"Bayesian,\" we likely would receive only a handful of positive responses. Although advanced statistical methods, such as Bayesian statistics, have been readily incorporated in computational materials science, most experimental research utilizes classical statistics. Bayesian statistics models uncertainty in a way fundamentally different from classical statistics, such as linear regression, or what we commonly refer to as the \"frequentist” viewpoint. The frequentist treats an event\'s probability as its relative frequency in a large number of trials. This is useful when we sample data from large populations (e.g., drug trials). However, not all materials problems are conducive to this perspective—if we have a single sample from a process, we may want to know something specific about that sample, as opposed to considering future samples. Hence, a parameter value\'s confidence interval describing that specific sample does not have much meaning. In contrast, Bayesian statistics treats hypotheses and solutions as finite probabilities (i.e., the strengths of models and hypotheses). Given available data, we calculate the probability of certain solutions, such as the probability that a sample has a monoclinic crystal structure, within which we can quantify specific locations of atoms. Building from this statistical framework, researchers from the Materials Science and Engineering, Statistics, and Mathematics Departments at N.C. State University, in collaboration with researchers at Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the National Institute of Standards and Technology, have recently applied Bayesian statistical approaches to rigorous quantification of diffraction data. Using new programs in education and outreach similar to those described in this article, we can readily adopt such new methods for big data problems in materials research. Develop fluency across disciplines and in public communication of scientific ideas; • . Promote diversity; Develop leaders with strong professional identities; and REGISTER TODAY! DISCOUNTED EARLY REGISTRATION DEADLINE SEPTEMBER 2 • Build a network of professional colleagues and mentors. As well as addressing research challenges posed by big data, N.C. State\'s SEAS NRT program recognized underrepresentation of minorities in STEM disciplines MS&T brings together over 3,000 scientists, engineers, students, suppliers, and more to discuss current research and technical applications, and to shape the future of materials science and technology. Technical Meeting and Exhibition MS&T1711 MATERIALS SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY OCTOBER 8-12, 2017 | DAVID L. LAWRENCE CONVENTION CENTER | PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA, USA Organizers: www.MATSCITECH.ORG The American Ceramic Society www.ceramics.org AIST ASM TMS ASSOCIATION FOR IRON & STEEL INTERNATIONAL TECHNOLOGY The Minerals, Metals & Materials Society American Ceramic Society Bulletin, Vol. 96, No. 6 | www.ceramics.org Sponsored by: NACE INTERNATIONAL The Worldwide Conosion Authority\" 43 Big data meets materials science: Training the future generation and formed a strategic partnership with North Carolina Central University (NCCU), a public and historically African-American university located in Durham, N.C. Prominent NCCU faculty in the physics and mathematics departments have research interests that align with the technical focus of the SEAS NRT program. Combined with prior or ongoing collaborations with N.C. State faculty, NCCU students can participate as trainees within the same environment. For more information about SEAS, visit https://research.mse.ncsu.edu/seas. O DESE graduate training efforts at institutions such as N.C. State and Texas A&M will increase the number of interdisciplinary scientists who are fluent in foundational principles of physical, statistical, and computer science disciplines and can become future leaders and innovators in data-intensive interdisciplinary research. Further, we anticipate these programs to establish models and best practices for this type of interdisciplinary graduate education, which other institutions can adopt. The revolution of big data is upon us, SAVE THE DATE! January 17-19, 2018 | DoubleTree by Hilton Orlando at Sea World Conference Hotel | Orlando, Fla. USA 2018 a CONFERENCE ON ELECTRONIC AND ADVANCED MATERIALS Electronic Materials and Applications is now the Conference on Electronic and Advanced Materials. Expanded programming includes: • Fundamental properties and processing of ceramic and electroceramic materials, and • Applications in electronic, electro/mechanical, magnetic, dielectric, and optical components, devices, and systems. CALL FOR PAPERS! Submit abstracts by September 6, 2017 For more information, visit ceramics.org/eam2018 ACers Electronics and Basic Science Divisions organize this conference. The American Ceramic Society www.ceramics,org and academic, national laboratory, and professional society communities are compelled to respond to the enormous opportunities and challenges that accompany the stream of data. NSF DESE traineeships are one critical component of this paradigm transition in graduate education. About the authors Elizabeth Dickey is professor and director of graduate programs in the Department of Materials and Engineering and director of the Center for Dielectrics and Piezoelectrics at North Carolina State University (Raleigh, N.C.). Greer Arthur is a postdoctoral research scholar specializing in molecular biology and immunology at the North Carolina State University. References ¹User facilities of the Office of Basic Energy Sciences: A national resource for scientific research, Argonne National Laboratory (2009) http://science.energy.gov/-/media/bes/ suf/pdf/BES_Facilities.pdf. 2\"Midsize facilities: Infrastructure for materials research,\" National Academy of Sciences, The National Academies Press (2005) http://www.nap.edu/catalog/11336.html. 3S. Curtarolo, G.L.W. Hart, M.B. Nardelli, N. Mingo, S. Sanvito, and O. Levy, \"The high-throughput highway to computational materials design,\" Nat. Mater., 12, 191-201 (2013) http://doi:10.1038/nmat3568. 4A. Jain, S.P. Ong, G. Hautier, W. Chen, W.D. Richards, S. Dacek, S. Cholia, D. Gunter, D. Skinner, G. Ceder, and K.A. Persson, \"Commentary: The materials project: A materials genome approach to accelerating materials innovation,\" APL Mater., 1, 011002 (2013) http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.4812323. \"https://sloanreview.mit.edu/case-study/ ge-big-bet-on-data-and-analytics/. 6A. Agrawal and A. Choudhary, \"Perspective: Materials informatics and big data: Realization of the \'fourth paradigm\' in science in materials science,\" APL Mater., 4, 053208 (2016) doi: 10.1063/1.4946894 J. Hill, G. Mulholland, K. Persson, R. Seshadri, C. Wolverton, and B. Meredig, \"Materials science with large-scale data and informatics: Unlocking new opportunities,\" MRS Bull., 41, 399-409 (2016) https:/www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1557/mrs.2016.93. 8A. Dima, S. Bhaskarla, C. Becker, M. Brady, C. Campbell, P. Dessauw, R. Hanisch, U. Kattner, K. Kroenlein, M. Newrock, A. Peskin, R. Plante, S.-Y. Li, Pierre-Franc, O. Rigodiat, G. Sousa Amaral, Z. Trautt, X. Schmitt, J. Warren, and S. Youssef, \"Informatics infrastructure for the Materials Genome Initiative,\" JOM, 68 [8] 2053-64 (2016) doi: 10.1007/s11837016-2000-4. ⁹S.V. Kalinin, B.G. Sumpter, and R.K. Archibald, \"Bigdeep-smart data in imaging for guiding materials design,\" Nat. Mater., 14, 973-80 (2015) http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/ NMAT4395. 10S.J.L. Billinge and I. Levin, \"The problem with determining atomic structure at the nanoscale,\" Science, 316 [5824] 561-65 (2007) http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.1135080. \"K. Thornton and M. Asta, \"Current status and outlook of computational materials science education in the U.S.,\" Modell. Simul. Mater. Sci. Eng., 13 [2] R53-R69 (2005) http://dx.doi. org/10.1088/0965-0393/13/2/R01.■ 44 www.ceramics.org | American Ceramic Society Bulletin, Vol. 96, No. 6 \"Big Island\" location proves \"big success\" for 12th PACRIM with ACers Glass and Optical Materials Division annual meeting It appears all the hard work over past couple years by the symposia organizers and ACers staff has come to fruition,\" says PACRIM12 organizer, Dileep Singh. \"The success of PACRIM12 is reflected in high quality technical sessions, diverse topical areas, and record number of attendees. My sincere thanks to all the people who have participated to make this possible.\" The conference\'s open-air lanai lent itself to networking and many pop-up meetings. The Pacific Rim Conference on Ceramic and Glass Technology is a biennial conference partnership between The American Ceramic Society, The Ceramic Society of Japan, The Chinese Ceramic Society, The Korean Ceramic Society, and the Australian Ceramic Society. ACerS president Bill Lee recognizes Dileep Singh for his efforts as lead organizer of the conference. America, and other Asian countries. The conference held May 21-26, brought 1,234 attendees from 38 countries to the Hilton Waikoloa Resort in Kona, Hawaii. Of those, only 36% were from the United States. The Pacific Rim partner countries combined for 38%, and about 20% came from Europe. Attendees also came from Canada, Mexico, India, New Zealand, South The Glass and Optical Materials Division also held its annual meeting at PACRIM, which led to a strong, balanced technical program. GOMD\'s program included its prestigious award lectures. S.K. Sundaram organized the GOMD technical meeting. Other activities took place during the week, including a town hall meeting conducted by the National Academy of Sciences, a publishing workshop for young professionals, and a glass corrosion short course. Christopher Shaver from University of Tennessee shares his work at the open-air poster session. The Hilton Waikoloa Resort is situated on Kona, which was formed by volcanic activity. Several observatories built atop the inactive volcano of Mauna Kea benefited from the skills of several GOMD glass scientists who were at the conference. Mauna Loa, located on the other side of the island, is still an active volcano, and proved an irresistible opportunity for many to visit one of nature\'s furnaces and see materials science in action. Edgar Zanotto (third from left), chair of GOMD, chats with PACRIM attendees at the opening reception. PACRIM13 will take place October 27-31, 2019, in Okinawa, Japan. \"Mahalo\"-thank you—to Singh, Sundarum, and all the PACRIM12GOMD organizers! An event in Hawaii is only complete with a luau and some hula dancing! Nearly 800 people enjoyed both at the conference dinner on Thursday. American Ceramic Society Bulletin, Vol. 96, No. 6 | www.ceramics.org 45 ps you reach the summill speak to the team at booth 308 MICS CO.LTD. PRO ceramicS expo 2017 brings more than 2,800 attendees from 33 countries over 3 days Sunel Donet Danel The afternoon networking receptions offered attendees opportunities to make new friends and business contacts. Custom Furnace Cryston Compactin Crysts Compute G Orgeles Comp U Crystos Compration earning, networking, relationship-building, selling, job-seeking, and collaborating. Those were the elements that contributed to a successful ■Ceramics Expo (CEX) 2017, held at the Cleveland I-X Center, April 25-27, 2017. Organized by Smarter Shows, with ACers as its Founding Partner, CEX seems to get bigger and better every year. CEX was more than just an expo. Attendees had the option of staying current Zir with the latest trends, manufacturing processes, and applications in more than 20 free-to-attend sessions in two tracks over three days, featuring 60+ expert speakers. And it was standing room only for most of the sessions! More than 300 exhibitors were busy talking to prospective buyers about their new products and services. JOB BOARD Cleveland mayor Frank Jackson made an appearance at the show on Wednesday. He toured CEX and stopped to chat with many exhibitors from Cleveland, as well as other areas. The main floor was abuzz with more than 300 exhibitors showing, educating, demonstrating, and selling their latest products and innovations to interested buyers. Business relationships were developed, deals were made, and sales were closed. Overall exhibitors generated more than 6,000 leads. And all that learning tends to make one thirsty. Attendees took a break Tuesday and Wednesday afternoons to relax at the complimentary networking receptions and make new friends and business contacts. IMERYS Fused Minerals IMERYS IMERYS Ceramics IMERYS Refractory Minerals APPLICATIONS Delte Many attendees perused the job board at CEX 2017 in search of new career opportunities. 46 Meeting new business contacts, developing relationships, and educating prospective customers was all part of business-as-usual at Ceramics Expo 2017. www.ceramics.org | American Ceramic Society Bulletin, Vol. 96, No. 6 ORM CEX 2017 attendees listened to experts discuss the latest trends and innovations in ceramic materials, additive manufacturing, medical applications, and more. Many of the free-to-attend sessions were standing room only. ACers Manufacturing Division held its meeting to update members on Division activity during the past year. About 50 members turned out to hear the latest Division news and exchange ideas for future programming. ACerS Western New York Section also convened with nearly 30 members in attendance, including ACerS president Bill Lee, who outlined his vision for the Society and the Section. The corporate member breakfast provided ACerS\' corporate partners with opportunities to network and catch up with old friends while listening to Society news and updates delivered by ACers staff. Cleveland\'s I-X Center proved to be the perfect venue for hosting CEX17 and with nearly 50 local restaurants and attractions offering discounts to CEX attendees, there was always something fun to do after hours. CEX18 will be even bigger and better next year, as it will be colocated with the Waste Heat Recovery Expo-a new conference focused on waste heat power generation technologies for industrial facilities, May 1-3, 2018. Visit www.ceramicsexpousa.com for the latest updates, and we hope to see you next year! The numbers speak to CEX17 success! •2,842 attendees from 33 countries over 3 days 1,609 unique companies NSL NSL ANALYTICAL ANALYTICAL n 6 ial ANALYTICAL Cleveland mayor Frank Jackson (center) toured CEX 2017 and stopped by several exhibitors\' booths to pose for a photo. Several exhibitors offered interesting demonstrations of their products, including this floating duck. Thermo 37.5 alteo thermal Refract A NEW WORLD OF ALUMINA bra to Alteo nce alun Exhibitors generated more than 6,000 leads from prospective customers during CEX 2017. AOKERO ⚫326 exhibitors •6,225 leads generated ⚫90% of attendees would participate again | American Ceramic Society Bulletin, Vol. 96, No. 6 | www.ceramics.org SEREACION Judging from the smiles, attendees seemed to enjoy making new friends at the networking receptions! 47 JOIN US FOR THE ACERS 119TH ANNUAL MEETING! MS&T17 Registration now open! DAVID L. LAWRENCE CONVENTION CENTER | PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA, USA The MS&T partnership brings together scientists, engineers, students, suppliers, and more to discuss current research and technical applications, and to shape the future of materials science and technology. Register now to take part in the leading forum addressing structure, properties, processing, and performance across the materials community. OCT PLENARY LECTURES -10 TUESDAY SPECIAL EVENTS 8 SUNDAY 2017 5-7 p.m. ACERS KERAMOS RECEPTION 8:30 10:40 a.m. AIST ADOLF MARTENS MEMORIAL STEEL LECTURE 6-7 p.m. De Cooman King Zinkle - Bruno C. De Cooman, professor, Graduate Institute of Ferrous Technology; Pohang University of Science and Technology Mechanical twinning in formable advanced ultra-high strength steel TMS/ASM JOINT DISTINGUISHED LECTURESHIP IN MATERIALS AND SOCIETY AWARD - Alexander H. King, director of the Critical Materials Institute, a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Energy Innovation Hub at Ames Laboratory What do we need and how will we get it? ACERS EDWARD ORTON JR. MEMORIAL LECTURE - Steven J. Zinkle, UTK/ORNL governor\'s chair professor, Departments of Nuclear Engineering and Materials Science and Engineering; University of Tennessee, Knoxville What\'s new in nuclear reactors? MS&T WOMEN IN MATERIALS SCIENCE RECEPTION -9 MONDAY ACERS BASIC SCIENCE DIVISION CERAMOGRAPHIC EXHIBIT AND COMPETITION 8 a.m. - 6 p.m. (Monday) | 7 a.m. – 6 p.m. (Tuesday) 7 a.m. - Noon (Wednesday, Thursday) 9-10 a.m. 1-2 p.m. 4:30 - 6 p.m. 4:30 - 6 p.m. PITTSBURGH COMPANION EVENT ACERS 119TH ANNUAL MEETING EXHIBITION SHOW HOURS WELCOME RECEPTION & EXHIBITION GRAND OPENING 6:45-10 p.m. ACERS AWARDS DINNER (ticketed event) 6:45 - 7:30 p.m. (Reception) | 7:30 – 10 p.m. (Banquet) -10 TUESDAY 10 a.m. - 6 p.m. EXHIBITION SHOW HOURS 11 a.m. - 6 p.m. POSTER SESSION 11 a.m. - 1 p.m. (With presenters) | 1-6 p.m. (General viewing) Noon - 2 p.m. MS&T FOOD COURT Noon - 2 p.m. YOUNG PROFESSIONAL TUTORIAL AND LUNCHEON LECTURE HOTEL INFORMATION RESERVATION DEADLINE: SEPTEMBER 15, 2017 For best availability and immediate confirmation, make your reservation online at www.matscitech.org. Omni William Penn Hotel - ACERS HQ | $199/night U.S. government rate rooms are extremely limited; proof of federal government employment must be shown at checkin or higher rate will be charged. U.S. government rate is the prevailing government rate, as of October 1, 2017, and subject to change. 48 (Purchase lunch with registration) Speaker: Elizabeth Holm, Carnegie Mellon University; Organized by the TMS Young Professionals Committee 4-6 p.m. MS&T17 EXHIBIT HAPPY HOUR RECEPTION 11 9:30 a.m. - 2 p.m. POSTER VIEWING WEDNESDAY 9:30 a.m. - 2 p.m. EXHIBITION SHOW HOURS Noon - 1 p.m. 1 PUBLISH, DON\'T PERISH! \"Benefits of Being a Reviewer for Technical Journals\" www.ceramics.org | American Ceramic Society Bulletin, Vol. 96, No. 6 WWW.MATSCITECH.ORG Organizers: The American Ceramic Society www.ceramics.org AIST REGISTER BEFORE SEPTEMBER 2 TO SAVE! ASM TMS ASSOCIATION FOR IRON & STEEL TECHNOLOGY INTERNATIONAL The Minerals, Metals & Materials Society Sponsored by: & NACE INTERNATIONAL The Worldwide Corrosion Authority\" ACERS LECTURES AND AWARDS OCT 9-10 a.m. -9 MONDAY ACERS/EPDC ARTHUR L. FRIEDBERG CERAMIC ENGINEERING TUTORIAL AND LECTURE - Rosario A. Gerhardt, Georgia Institute of Technology Structure - property - processing relationships in composite materials 2 – 4:40 p.m. ACERS RICHARD M. FULRATH AWARD SESSION - Akitoshi Hayashi, Osaka Prefecture University Development of ion-conducting glasses for solid-state batteries - Chie Kawamura, Taiyo Yuden Co. Ltd. Synthesis of high crystalline and fine BaTiO 3 powder for thinner Ni-MLCCs via solid state route - Jon Ihlefeld, Sandia National Laboratories New functionality from reconfigurable ferroelastic domains in ferroelectric films - Hideki Tanaka, Shoei Chemical Inc. Development of mass production of Ni-nanopowder for the internal electrode of MLCC by DC thermal plasma process - Klaus Van Benthem, University of California, Davis Do fields matter? - Microstructure evolution in ceramic oxides GET INVOLVED WITH YOUR SOCIETY\'S PRESENT AND FUTURE! ACERS 119TH ANNUAL MEETING 309 David L. Lawrence Convention Center Monday, Oct. 9 | 1-2 p.m. This annual meeting features: • The president\'s State of the Society report • New officer inductions The new president\'s vision •The members\' town hall and Q&A For details visit www.ceramics.org 250 9 - 10 a.m. 10 TUESDAY 2017 MS&T PLENARY SESSION ACERS Edward Orton Jr. Memorial Lecture - Steven J. Zinkle, University of Tennessee, Knoxville What\'s new in nuclear reactors 1-2 p.m. ACERS FRONTIERS OF SCIENCE AND SOCIETYRUSTUM ROY LECTURE - Qingjie Zhang, Wuhan University of Technology Global energy challenges and development of thermoelectric materials and systems in China 2-5 p.m. ACERS ALFRED R. COOPER AWARD SESSION Cooper Distinguished Lecture Winners will be announced after selection by the Cooper Award Committee. 2016 Alfred R. Cooper Young Scholar Award Presentation Winners will be announced after selection by the Cooper Award Committee. 1-2 p.m. 11 WEDNESDAY ACERS BASIC SCIENCE DIVISION ROBERT B. SOSMAN LECTURE - Michael J. Hoffmann, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology Grain growth in perovskite-based ceramics SHORT COURSE 12 THURSDAY +13 9 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. | Thursday (Day 1) 9 a.m. - 2:30 p.m. | Friday (Day 2) SINTERING OF CERAMICS FRIDAY - Mohamed Rahaman, Missouri University of Science and Technology American Ceramic Society Bulletin, Vol. 96, No. 6 | www.ceramics.org 49 49 REGISTER TODAY! INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON SINTERING 2017 Latest Advances in Science and Technology of Sintering and Microstructure Evolution The American Ceramic Society www.ceramics.org HYATT REGENCY MISSION BAY SPA AND MARINA | SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA November 12-16, 2017 | www.ceramics.org/sintering 2017 Sintering 2017 will address the latest developments in sintering and microstructural evolution processes for the fabrication of powderbased materials in terms of fundamental understanding, technological issues, and industrial applications. Whether you are a researcher, industrial partner, or student, Sintering 2017 offers an opportunity to meet and establish collaborations and to build professional relationships. In addition to technical sessions, poster presentations, and special programs, the conference also offers three plenary speakers, to include: Didier Bouvard, Grenoble Alps University, France Investigating the sintering of multilayer components with advanced experimental and modelling tools Martin Harmer, Lehigh University, Bethlehem, Pa., USA Know your [grain] boundaries SCHEDULE AT A GLANCE Sunday, November 12, 2017 Welcome reception Monday, November 13, 2017 Plenary session I 6-8 p.m. 8-9 a.m. Concurrent technical sessions Poster session set-up Lunch 9 a.m. - 5 p.m. Bernd Kieback, Fraunhofer Institute for Manufacturing Technology and Advanced Materials IFAM, Germany Contact formation and densification during early stages of spark plasma sintering of metal powders CONFERENCE CHAIRS Rajendra K. Bordia, Clemson University; Eugene A. Olevsky, San Diego State University; Didier Bouvard, Grenoble-INP, France; Suk-Joong L. Kang, KICET, South Korea; and Bernd Kieback, Technische Universität Dresden, Germany Conference local (US) cochairs: Rajendra K. Bordia Eugene A. Olevsky Poster session (posters up all day) Tuesday, November 14, 2017 Plenary session II Concurrent technical sessions 10 a.m. - noon Noon - 1 p.m. 1 - 2:30 p.m. 8-9 a.m. 9 a.m. - noon Wednesday, November 15, 2017 Concurrent technical sessions Lunch Roundtable discussion Dinner Thursday, November 16, 2017 Concurrent technical sessions 8 a.m. - 5 p.m. Noon - 1 p.m. 1:30-3 p.m. 7-9 p.m. 8 a.m. noon HYATT REGENCY MISSION BAY SPA AND MARINA 1441 Quivira Road | San Diego, CA, USA, 92109 Tel: +1 619-224-1234 Room Rates: Single/double occupancy - $159 plus tax US government-prevailing government rate plus tax (currently $140) 50 www.ceramics.org | American Ceramic Society Bulletin, Vol. 96, No. 6 new products ROOKFIELD Raman spectrometer hermo Scientific\'s iXR Raman specfor multi-modal analysis. The instrument is the first and only compact Raman developed specifically for integration with other analytical tools. iXR offers performance comparable to laboratory research grade Raman spectrometers. An open architecture allows custom coupling to almost any equipment in any position. One measurement provides answers from multiple techniques all taken at the same time and in the same conditions. Configurable excitation laser wavelengths and spectral resolution maximize performance for particular materials. Thermo Fisher Scientific (Waltham, Mass.) 800-532-4752 www.thermofisher.com B103 Viscometer he new Brookfield KU-3 Viscometer easily measures paints, coatings, inks, adhesives, and pastes. Special magnetic spindle coupling enables rapid spindle attachment before the viscosity test and quick release afterward for cleanup. LED display includes a choice of Krebs units, grams of weight per ASTM D562, and centipoise. The viscometer features accuracy within +1.0% of range and repeatability of +0.5%. The new unit also features an expanded measurement range, lock-in test results, and an adapter for pint and half-pint cans. AMETEK Brookfield (Middleboro, Mass.) 508-946-6200 www.brookfieldengineering.com Optical centration measurement rioptics OptiCentric Trioptics Opti Centri tion measurement system has a new head that makes it suitable for centration measurement and alignment of infrared lens systems. The system is equipped with a dualband medium wavelength infrared and visible light measurement head that allows the operator to conveniently choose an operation mode suitable for a particular application. OptiCentric IR uses visible light to analyze the sample for as many parameters as possible, providing fast, precise, and comprehensible measurements. Subsequently, infrared lens systems are automatically tested with the head for centration and alignment errors. 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This newly formed work cell offers access to an isopress with a 30\" OD x 48\" L chamber, along with vertical mills, lathes, and kilns to provide cost-efficient, high-quality products. Superior offers a line of high-strength 99.8% aluminas with highly dense, fine-grained material structures for chamber critical components, as well as 96% to 99.9% aluminas and YTZP and MSZ zirconias. Superior Technical Ceramics (St. Albans, Vt.) 802-527-7726 www.ceramics.net American Ceramic Society Bulletin, Vol. 96, No. 6 | www.ceramics.org 51 Call for contributing editors for ACerS-NIST Phase Equilibria Diagrams Program Professors, researchers, retirees, post-docs, and graduate students ... The general editors of the reference series Phase Equilibria Diagrams are in need of individuals from the ceramics community to critically evaluate published articles containing phase equilibria diagrams. Additional contributing editors are needed to edit new phase diagrams and write short commentaries to accompany each phase diagram being added to the reference series. Especially needed are persons knowledgeable in foreign languages including German, French, Russian, | Azerbaijani, Chinese, and Japanese. RECOGNITION: The contributing editor\'s initials will accompany each commentary written for the publication. In addition, your name and affiliation also will be included on the title pages s under “contributing editors.” QUALIFICATIONS: General understanding of the Gibbs phase rule and experimental procedures for determination of phase equilibria diagrams and/or knowledge of theoretical methods to calculate phase diagrams. COMPENSATION for papers covering one chemical system: $150 for the commentary, plus $10 for each diagram. COMPENSATION for papers covering multiple chemical systems: $150 for the first commentary, plus $10 for each diagram. $50 for each additional commentary, plus $10 for each diagram. FOR DETAILS PLEASE CONTACT: Mrs. Kimberly Hill NIST Gaithersburg, Md. 20899-8524, USA 301-975-6009 | phase2@nist.gov The American Ceramic Society www.ceramics.org Oresources Calendar of events September 2017 17-20 Ultra-High Temperature Ceramics: Materials for Extreme Applications IV - Cumberland Lodge, Windsor, U.K.; www.engconf.org 18-20 Advanced Ceramics and Applications VI: New Frontiers in Multifunctional Material Science and Processing - Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts, Belgrade, Serbia; www.serbianceramicsociety.rs/about.htm 19-21 Resodyn 7th Annual Technical InterChange Butte, Mont.; www.resodynmixers.com SEAL 27-29 UNITECR 2017 CentroParque Convention and Conference Center, Santiago, Chile; www.unitecr2017.org October 2017 1-6 EPD 2017: 6th Int\'l Conference on Electrophoretic Deposition: Fundamentals and Applications Gyeongju, South Korea; www.engconf.org/conferences 2-6 3rd Int\'l Conference on Rheology and Modeling of Materials - Hunguest Hotel Palota Lillafüred, Miskolc, Hungary; www.ic-rmm3.eu 8-12 MS&T17 combined with ACerS 119th Annual Meeting - Pittsburgh, Pa.; www.matscitech.org 8-13 European Microwave Week 2017 - Nürnberg Convention Center, Nuremberg, Germany; www.eumweek.com 18-19 60th Int\'l Colloqium on Refractories - Eurogress, Aachen, Germany; www.ic-refractories.eu 22-25 2017 ICG Annual Meeting and 32nd Sisecam Glass Symposium Sisecam and Technology Center, Istanbul, Turkey; www.icginstanbul2017.com 31-Nov. 3 6th Int\'l Symposium on ACTSEA 2017-Garden Villa, Kaohsiung, Taiwan; www.actsea2017.web2.ncku.edu.tw November 2017 6-9 78th Conference on Glass Problems - Greater Columbus Convention Center, Columbus, Ohio; www.glassproblemsconference.org 12-16 Int\'l Conference on Sintering 2017 - Hyatt Regency Mission Bay Spa and Marina, San Diego, Calif.; www.ceramics.org/sintering2017 12-16 CALL2017: Composites at Lake Louise - Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise, Alberta, Canada; www.engconfintl.org/17AC December 2017 14-16 ➡81st Annual Session of Indian Ceramic Society and International Conference on \"Expanding Horizons of Technological Applications of Ceramics and Glasses - College of Engineering Pune, India; www.81ics-bmr2017.com January 2018 17-19 EAM 2018: ACerS Conference on Electronic and Advanced Materials - DoubleTree by Hilton Orlando Sea World, Orlando, Fla.; www.ceramics.org 21-26 ICACC\'18: 42nd Int\'l Conference and Expo on Advanced Ceramics and Composites - Hilton Daytona Beach Resort/Ocean Walk Village, Daytona Beach, Fla.; www.ceramics.org Dates in RED denote new entry in this issue. Entries in BLUE denote ACerS events. denotes meetings that ACerS cosponsors, endorses, or otherwise cooperates in organizing. SZAL denotes Corporate partner 52 NIST www.ceramics.org | American Ceramic Society Bulletin, Vol. 96, No. 6 classified advertising Career Opportunities QUALITY EXECUTIVE SEARCH, INC. Recruiting and Search Consultants Specializing in Ceramics JOE DRAPCHO 24549 Detroit Rd. Westlake, Ohio 44145 (440) 899-5070 Cell (440) 773-5937 www.qualityexec.com E-mail: qesinfo@qualityexec.com Business Services 34 Years of Precision Ceramic Machining Ph: 714-538-2524 | Fx: 714-538-2589 Email: sales@advanced ceramictech.com www.advancedceramictech.com • Custom forming of technical ceramics •Protype, short-run and high-volume production quantities • Multiple C.N.C. 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Wilson pwilson@ceramics.org ph: 614-794-5826 fx: 614-794-5842 American Ceramic Society Bulletin, Vol. 96, No. 6 | www.ceramics.org 55 59 O deciphering the discipline A regular column offering the student perspective of the next generation of ceramic and glass scientists, organized by the ACerS Presidents Council of Student Advisors. Kaushik Sankar Guest columnist Geopolymers as alternate cements Concrete is the most widely used construction material in the world. We generally make concrete using ordinary portland cement (OPC), water, and aggregates, including fine sand and coarse gravel. OPC is responsible for most of the properties of concrete. OPC manufacturing is energy intensive and environmentally harmful, leading to a high carbon footprint for this ubiquitous construction material. Production of 1 tonne of OPC is estimated to emit approximately 1 tonne of carbon dioxide in the air.¹ This is caused by calcination of limestone, which releases carbon dioxide, and the associated energy costs to grind and sinter raw materials at less than 1,600°C. The Paris Agreement highlights the importance of the need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Infrastructure development is booming in many countries, including India and China. Therefore, developing \"green\" high-performance binders is an excellent step to reduce carbon dioxide emissions and has high commercial potential. Many groups have made important developments in the field of alternate cements. However, alternate cements must satisfy several criteria to move beyond a product for niche applications and enter the large-scale market. • Alternate cements must be made using inexpensive raw materials that are widely available worldwide. The underlying chemical reactions must be well understood, and standards must be established to ensure quality control. • Alternate cements must be tolerant of minor variations in composition and must set at ambient temperature within a reasonable timeframe. • Strength and durability of alternate cements must be equal to or better than OPC. • Manufacture of the binder must have a significantly lower carbon footprint than OPC. Other important criteria are discussed by Provis et al.² Geopolymers are amorphous, inorganic polymers that can be produced as a liquid and cured at ambient temperatures into strong, refractory solids (lowenergy processing). The fundamental difference in hardening of OPC and geopolymers lies in chemistry-OPC undergoes hydration, whereas geopolymers undergo polycondensation. Excellent compressive and flexural strength, controllable strength development, tailorable setting time, and excellent workabil ity make geopolymers ideal candidates for alternate cements. Geopolymers are produced by mixing certain aluminosilicate sources-such as slag, fly ash, metakaolin, and halloysite with an alkali silicate solution. Traditional high-shear mixing equipment commercially used for OPC concrete works well for geopolymer concrete. In addition, raw materials for producing geopolymers are available worldwide. Recently, researchers have made geopolymers using indigenous resources, includ (a) Pouring self-compacting slag fly ash geopolymer cement into a mold. (b) Micrograph showing the structure of slag fly ash geopolymer cement. (c) Hardened geopolymer concrete block. 56 Credit: Corning Incorporated ing lateritic soil, Amazonian kaolinite clay, Bangladeshi mymensingh clay, rice husk ash (to make alkali silicate), bamboo, jute, and fique (as natural reinforcements to make a geopolymer composite), to build an eco-village in the Amazon.³ Slag fly ash, consisting of class F fly ash and slag aluminosilicates, byproducts of coal combustion plants and blast furnaces, respectively, is an example of a type of geopolymer. These products are hazardous to the environment. However, incorporating them into a chemically stable, strong geopolymer reduces their environmental dangers and produces a cost-competitive \"green\" binder when compared with OPC. This geopolymer can reduce carbon emissions by 70%-90% of OPC\'s levels if the material is properly sourced.* Geopolymers are one of the leading candidates for alternate cements because of their excellent mechanical strength, durability, raw material abundance, and low carbon footprint. Successful projects have demonstrated some of the potential of geopolymers in construction and other applications, and future research will continue to develop this promising avenue for alternate cements. References ¹J. Davidovits, Geopolymer Chemistry and Applications, II edition, 2008. 2J.L. Provis and J.S.J. Van Deventer, Alkali Activated Materials, Vol. 13, p. 396. Springer, Netherlands, 2014. 3R.A. Sá, M.G. Sá, K. Sankar, and W.M. Kriven, \"Geopolymer-bamboo composite-A novel sustainable construction material,\" Constr. Build. Mater., 123, 501-507 (2016). 4J. Davidovits, \"Geopolymer cement, a review,\" Geopolymer Inst. Libr., [0] 1-11 (2013). Kaushik Sankar is a third-year Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at University of Illinois at UrbanaChampaign. He enjoys travelling and playing cricket. www.ceramics.org | American Ceramic Society Bulletin, Vol. 96, No. 6 www.ceramics.org/icacc2018 42ND INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE AND EXPOSITION ON ADVANCED CERAMICS AND COMPOSITES JANUARY 21-26, 2018 Hilton Daytona Beach Resort and Ocean Center Daytona Beach, Florida, USA ICACC18 gives materials scientists, engineers, researchers, and manufacturers the opportunity to share knowledge and state-of-the-art advancements in materials technology. W CALL FOR PAPERS Deadline extended to August 21, 2017 S Organized by the Engineering Ceramics Division of The American Ceramic Society The American Ceramic Society www.ceramics.org Engineering Ceramics Division The American Ceramic Society 田 AMERICAN ELEMENTS THE ADVANCED MATERIALS MANUFACTURER Ⓡ calcium carbonate nanoparticles europium p dielectrics catalog: americanelements.com carbon nanoparticl iquids Nd: yttriu H 1.00794 Hydrogen Li 6.941 Lithium zinc nanoparticles Be 9.012182 Beryllium Na Mg 22.98976928 Sodium K 20 24.305 Magnesium Ca 39.0983 Potassium 40.078 Calcium medic rho Rb 37 85.4678 Rubidium adium cs 87 132.9054 Cesium tant Fr (223) Francium thin film 88 Sr Strontium Ba 137.327 Barium Ra Radium 57 89 palladium nanoparticles optoelectronics silicon nanopart copper an B C 99.999% ruthenium spheres surface functionalized nanoparticles 27 10.811 Boron 12.0107 Carbon 13 ΑΙ 26.9815386 Aluminum 14 Si 15 14.0067 15.9994 Nitrogen Oxygen NP 28.0855 Silicon 30.973762 Phosphorus S 32.065 Sulfur iron nanoparticles silver nanoparti 32 34 Ti V Cr Mn Fe Co Ni Cu Cu Zn Ga Ge As Se 47.867 54.938045 Manganese 55.845 Iron 58.933195 Cobalt 58.6934 Nickel 63.546 Copper Zinc 69.723 Gallium 72.64 78.96 Selenium Sc 44.965912 Scandium Y 88.90585 Yttrium La 138.90547 Lanthanum Ac 40 72 104 Titanium Zr 91.224 Zirconium Hf 178.48 Hafnium Rf 41 73 105 50.9415 Vanadium 42 51.9961 Chromium 43 Nb Mo Tc 92.90638 Niobium Ta 180.9488 Tantalum Db 74 106 96.96 Molybdenum W 183.84 Tungsten 75 107 (98.0) Technetium Re 186.207 Rhenium 44 76 108 45 46 47 48 Ru Rh Pd Ag Cd 101.07 Ruthenium Os 190.23 Osmium Sg Bh Hs 77 109 102.9056 Rhodium 192.217 Iridium Mt 78 110 106.42 Palladium Pt 196.084 Platinum Ds 79 111 107.8682 Silver 80 112.411 Cadmium Au Hg 196.966569 Gold 112 200.59 Mercury Rg Cn 50 In 114.818 Indium TI 204.3833 Thallium Uut 82 114 Germanium Sn 118.71 Tin Pb 207.2 Lead FI 51 83 115 74.9216 Arsenic Sb 121.76 Antimony Bi 208.9804 Bismuth 84 116 Te 127.6 Tellurium Po (209) Polonium Uup Lv Actinium (267) Rutherfordium Dubnium (271) Seaborgium (272) Bohrium (270) Hassium (276) Meitnerium (281) (280) (285) Darmstadtium Roentgenium Copernicium (284) Ununtrium (289) Flerovium Ununpentium (293) Livermorium 62 63 quantum dots 61 Ce Pr Nd Pm Sm 140.90765 Praseodymium 144.242 Neodymium aluminum nanoparticles Eu Gd Tb Dy Ho Er Tm Yb 157.25 Gadolinium To by Ho Er Dysprosium diamond m 140.116 Cerium refracto ten carbide bium dop nan American adva Th 232.03806 Thorium Pa 92 U 93 (145) Promethium 150.36 Samarium 95 151.964 Europium 96 97 158.92535 Terbium Np Pu Am Cm Bk 99 164.93032 Holmium 100 167.259 Erbium 101 Thulium 102 17 53 85 F 18.9984032 Fluorine CI 35.453 Chlorine Br 210 He 4.002602 Helium Ne 20.1797 Neon Ar 39.948 Argon Kr 79.904 Bromine 83.798 Krypton 126.90447 lodine At (210) Astatine 118 Xe 131.293 Xenon rod solid metals crystals cone sit Rnmistry (222) Radon Uuo um Uus (294) (294) Ununseptium Ununoctium nickel nanoparticl Lu 173.054 Ytterbium Es Fm Md No 98 Cf 231.03588 Protactinium 238.02891 Uranium (237) Neptunium (244) Plutonium (243) Americium (247) Curium (247) Berkelium (251) Californium (252) Einsteinium (257) Fermium (258) Mendelevium (259) Nobelium single crystal silicon tics Elements 20 th ANNIVERSARY 1997-2017 alter Mer gadolinium wire atomic layer depositio ymium foil REENDENTED! 103 174.9668 Lutetium Lr (282) Lawrencium ing powder macromolecu nano gels anti-ballistic ceramics ent. europium phosphors nanodispersions ultra high purity platinum ink tering targets Experience the Next Generation of Material Science Catalogs LED lighting net anode solar energy metamaterials silicon rods As one of the world\'s first and largest manufacturers and distributors of nanoparticles & nanotubes, American Elements\' re-launch of its 20 year old Catalog is worth noting. 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