Bending ceramic

Malleable and bendable ceramic
materials have been developed in
Saarbrucken, Germany. Deutchland
(No I 9/10). Scientists at the
Saarbrucken's Institute for New
Industrial Material have recently
developed what they refer to as
'nano powder'. It consists of almost
unimaginably small ceramic particles, billions of which would fit on
the head of a pin. The ceramic particles are surrounded by an extremely
thin lubricating fIlm which ensures
that the individual particles do not
stick to one another and are able to
move freely. This produces rather
surprising results. The new industrial material can be forged, rolled
and bent without breaking. In the
future, ceramic materials of this
kind could, for example, increase
the performance of car engines,
power station turbines and aircraft,
a ad eventually even be used to find a
substitute for heavy and environmentally harmful lead batteries.