Siliciumcarbide - is it an alternative to suction cups made of aluminumoxide?

Siliziumcarbide (SiC) is a novel non-oxide ceramic material. We tested diff erently preconditioned SiC and aluminum-oxide ceramics (P80) with respect t o their influence on the solution passing through. For this we used a catio n standard, an anion standard and a soil solution. Both ceramics released c onsiderable amounts of Na and Al. However, in most cases SiC showed better results for anions and dissolved organic carbon. Therefore it may be a prom ising task to improve the properties of SiC by minimizing sinter additives and optimized conditioning procedures, and develop improved suction cups.