Page 51 - Plastics News April 2017

TECHNOLOGY

Liquid polymer that can transform into a ceramic with valuable thermal,
optical and electronic properties

eramic textiles, improved jet engine blades, 3-D polymers," Singh said. "But when you heat our polymer,
Cprinted ceramics and better batteries may soon it undergoes a liquid to solid transition. This transparent
become a reality, thanks to a recently patented polymer liquid polymer can transform into a very black, glasslike
from a Kansas State University engineer. Gurpreet Singh, ceramic."
Harold O. and Jane C. Massey Neff associate professor
Ceramics are valuable because they withstand extreme
of mechanical and nuclear engineering at Kansas State
temperatures and are used for a variety of materials,
University, has patented a liquid polymer that can
including spark plugs, jet engines, high-temperature
transform into a ceramic with valuable thermal, optical
furnaces or even space exploration materials. As a
and electronic properties.
preceramic polymer, Singh said the liquid material has
Using five ingredients — silicon, boron, carbon, nitrogen several important properties:

• The polymer is low density and can create lightweight
ceramics instead of the usual heavy ceramics.
• The polymer is scalable and can be mass-produced in
grams or kilograms.

• The ceramic derived from this polymer can survive
extreme temperatures as high as approximately 1,700
degrees Celsius. Yet the ceramic has a mass density
three to six times lower than that of other ultrahigh-
temperature ceramics, such as zirconium boride and
hafnium carbide.

• The polymer can make ceramic fibers. If the polymer
is heated to approximately 50 to 100 degrees Celsius,
and hydrogen — Gurpreet Singh, Harold O. and Jane
C. Massey Neff associate professor of mechanical and it becomes a gel similar to syrup or honey. During this
nuclear engineering, has created a liquid polymer that gel state, the polymer can be pulled into strings or
can transform into a ceramic with valuable thermal, fibers to create ceramic textiles or ceramic mesh.
optical and electronic properties. The waterlike polymer, • The liquid polymer has processing flexibility. It can
which becomes a ceramic when heated, also can be be poured into molds and heated to accurately make
mass-produced. Singh is the lead inventor of the patent, complex ceramic shapes.
"Boron-modified silazanes for synthesis of SiBNC ceramics." • Because the polymer is a liquid, it is sprayable or can
Romil Bhandavat, 2013 doctoral graduate in mechanical be used as a paint to make ceramic coatings. The
engineering, is a co-inventer. ceramic can protect materials underneath or can

The engineers developed the clear polymer that looks like create more efficient machinery that works in high-
water and has the same density and viscosity as water, temperature environments, such as steam turbines
unlike some other silicon- and boron-containing polymers. or jet engine blades. The polymer also may be used
"We have created a liquid that remains a liquid at room for 3-D printing of ceramic parts using a benchtop SLA
temperature and has a longer shelf life than other SiBNC printer.

51 April 2017 | Plastics News