For the last 25 years, the “ceramic world” has been working on creating the ceramics of the future. What doesn’t suit specialists about traditional ceramics? We are not satisfied with the main characteristics - strength and durability. Traditional ceramics are created by decorating a ceramic base with dyes and glazes (in simple terms, it’s like a wooden or metal base that is painted with primer paint, then a second layer of paint and a final protective layer). The insufficient strength and high water absorption (absorbs water and breaks down during temperature fluctuations) of the ceramic base makes the product vulnerable in more severe climatic conditions and limits its use only indoors. And the decorative layer of dyes and glazes does not have sufficient strength and is washed out in high-traffic areas.
That is why Italian technologists worked and created the ceramics of the future in the 90s , we know it under the name ceramic granite.
This ceramics technical characteristics are many times superior to traditional natural marbles and granites. Raw materials, technology and equipment for the production of ceramic granite are more complex and more expensive than for traditional ceramics. You can imagine that enriched natural materials (clays and feldspars) must first be ground into a homogeneous creamy mass, and then dried almost to the point of flour. After this, paint, mix, press and fire. But as they say, “the game is worth the candle,” in three hours we get material that nature has been creating for centuries, but has never been able to create.
The first sign of the ceramics of the future was the traditional salt-and-pepper ceramic granite, which began to be produced in our country in 2000. Yes, they created the ceramics of the future, and according to its characteristics, salt-and-pepper ceramic granite belongs to it, but they could not solve the problem of decoration, they could not make it beautiful. Therefore, “salt-pepper” porcelain tiles have taken a stable position as ceramic bricks, without which not a single construction project can do today.
The difficulty lies in the fact that in the ceramics of the future, the design is created by pressing colored natural powders and firing the pressed mass at high temperatures (which is why the design does not wear off over time and is not destroyed). The technical problem was not solved: how to pour powders with the desired design so that when they exit the kiln after firing, they get a beautiful tile.
And only in recent years have there been shifts in this direction , digital equipment has appeared that allows you to create a pattern and guarantee a high level of its repeatability in subsequent production. Although in terms of design quality, working with ceramic powders, it is not yet possible to come close to the designs that are created today on traditional ceramics with digital printers.
The excellent strength characteristics of the ceramics of the future, thanks to the development of technology, have made it possible to step into the world of large sizes - today it is possible to produce slabs up to 1200x3000 mm in size, with a choice of thicknesses from 6 mm to 20 mm. And the size 1200x1200 has become a real industrial size and is mass produced in Europe, and now in Russia at our enterprise.
The level of modern designs of future ceramics and the expansion of the range of sizes allows us to take a new step into other areas of application where traditional ceramics have no place.
Undoubtedly, the main new direction for the use of ceramics of the future in Russia is finishing the facades of modern buildings and finishing floors in administrative and commercial premises. And taking into account the fact that such material is produced in Russia, economic indicators allow it to be used in the decoration of facades and interior interiors, including economy class housing. As an example, we calculated that the rise in price per square meter of housing in a panel house, finished with a ventilated, insulated facade made of porcelain stoneware, will not exceed 1,600 rubles. That is, the rise in price of a two-room apartment will be about 70,000 rubles, but you get a warm apartment and a beautiful facade that does not need to be repaired for at least 20 years.
But the popularity of porcelain tiles has tempted businessmen to apply this name to other ceramic products. This is how the name “ glazed ceramic granite” appeared; this product cannot be fully called the ceramics of the future .
“Counterfeits” of porcelain stoneware are also sold ; these are products that are made from porcelain stoneware mass and are similar in appearance to traditional “salt and pepper”. During their production, in order to increase productivity, the firing process is deliberately accelerated, which leads to a deterioration in the main characteristics of real ceramic granite - strength, and almost zero water absorption.
So, what is Future Ceramics?
The ceramics of the future are true porcelain stoneware, in which designs are created solely by mixing natural ceramic powders without the use of glazes.
The world is developing, new materials are being created, although it is impossible to imagine a more advanced product in the field of ceramics.
Source: Zhelezovsky Valery Nikolaevich, performances 2016-2018.