The manufacture of cement, brick, bathroom tile and porcelain crockery normally requires a great deal of heat. However, material scientists from ETH Zurich have recently developed a simple method of manufacture that works at room temperature. The researchers used a calcium carbonate nanopowder as the starting material; instead of firing it, they added a small amount of water and then compacted it.

“Our work is the first evidence that a piece of ceramic material can be manufactured at room temperature in such a short amount of time and with relatively low pressures,” says André Studart, professor of complex materials at ETH.

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More news from around the web (CI):

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