STUIJTS-MEMORIAL-LECTURE 1997 - CERAMIC SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY FACINGCHANGING PARADIGMS

In the foreseeable future the main matter of concern for applied resea rch into ceramic materials will be, on the one hand, the need to ensur e the sustainable development by a reduction in the consumption of non renewable energy and natural resources and, on the other, the challeng e associated with the tendency of the industry to move towards a sales -orientated and 'just-in-time' production of materials. The former con cern should foster a growing utilisation of ceramic materials because these are, to an overwhelming majority, constituted by light elements that are abundant in the earth's crust and air. This endeavour emphasi ses a perfectioning of existing ceramic systems and their tailoring to a host of advanced applications by improving the properties, by using new or improved technologies, and by 'discovering' new properties of known compounds. This trend is illustrated in the paper by considering the applications of successively developed types of SiC-based materia ls and by the perspectives opened by newly revealed properties of earl ier known materials, like Ti3SiC2. In addition to providing improved p roperties, newly developed ceramic technologies comply to an increasin g degree with requirements for sustainable development and for 'just-i n-time' production. To illustrate this tendency, the RBAO (reaction bo nded aluminium oxide) method and several variants of combustion method s are reviewed in the paper. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Limited. All ri ghts reserved.