Ceramics

A ceramic is any of the several hard, brittle, heat- and corrosion-resistant materials created by shaping and then heating an inorganic, nonmetallic substance, such as clay. Brick, corrosion-resistant, and earthenware are common examples. The earliest ceramics produced by humans were earthenware items pots or vessels or figurines formed from clay, either on its own or combined with additional ingredients like silica, then hardened and sintered in fire. Later, ceramics were burned and glazed to provide smooth, colourful surfaces while reducing porosity by using glassy, amorphous ceramic coatings on top of the crystalline ceramic substrates. Ceramics currently comprise a wide range of materials produced for application in sophisticated ceramic engineering, such as semiconductors, as well as residential, industrial, and architectural items. The term "ceramic" is derived from the Greek word keramikos, which means "of pottery" or "for pottery,"from keramos, which means "potter's clay, tile, pottery." The term "ceramics" is more frequently used as a plural noun than as a singular noun. The word "ceramic" can also be used as an adjective to describe a material, product, or process.