U.S. developed ceramics that do not break

Scientists sandwich a thin layer of aluminum in ceramics and developed a material that has many advantages but is not brittle. Ceramic materials have many excellent properties such as good corrosion resistance, light weight, and good heat resistance. These advantages make ceramic materials widely used in production and life. However, these materials are prone to breakage because ceramics are very brittle and cracks tend to diffuse, eventually leading to complete failure of the material. This fatal weakness severely restricted the development and application of ceramic materials.
In July 2003, scientists at the University of California, USA, discovered that sandwiching an aluminum layer in a mullite ceramic layer can prevent the growth of stress cracks in mullite, so that cracks do not exceed a certain size. In this way, the cracks cannot be expanded, and the brittle weak points of the ceramic material are effectively overcome. Thus, ceramic products produced by this method are no longer easily broken and can better meet people's needs. This approach may open the way for the manufacture of ceramics that are more stress-resistant and have a wider range of applications than traditional ceramics.