Ultra-high-temperature ceramics that melt at temperatures above 3,000 degrees Celsius are the focus of a new collection of research findings co-edited by Dr. William Fahrenholtz, Curators’ Professor of ceramic engineering at Missouri University of Science and Technology. It is the first book in over 20 years to concentrate on these ceramic materials.

Ultra-High Temperature Ceramics: Materials for Extreme Environment Applications was released in November by Wiley-American Ceramic Society. The book combines a historical perspective on materials research from the 1960s and ‘70s with an analysis of these materials for applications such as hypersonic aerospace vehicles, high-speed cutting tools and nuclear power generation.

“The book is very useful for researchers that are interested in moving technology forward in the field of structural ceramics,” says Fahrenholtz. “Things like propulsion components for vehicles traveling faster than Mach 5 to electronic structure measurement can all benefit from the collection.”

Featured ceramics include carbides, nitrides and borides of transition metals like titanium or zirconium, which are closely studied due to their high melting temperatures and superior mechanical properties.

The book is based on the presentations given by numerous researchers at a materials for extreme environment applications conference in May 2012.

The work is directly related to Missouri S&T’s Enabling Materials for Extreme Environments signature area, one of four research areas that connect to long-term critical national issues, research and entrepreneurship potential, and align with Missouri S&T’s strategic plan. Fahrenholtz is one of the lead researchers in the signature area along with Dr. Greg Hilmas, Curators’ Professor of ceramic engineering at Missouri S&T. This signature area focuses on high-temperature ceramics for applications in the fields of clean energy production, advanced propulsion systems and hypersonic flight vehicles.

Co-editors of Ultra-High Temperature Ceramics: Materials for Extreme Environment Applications are Dr. Eric J. Wuchina, a senior materials research engineer at the Naval Surface Warfare Center, Dr. Bill Lee, professor of ceramics, founding director of the Centre for Advanced Structural Ceramics and director of the Centre for Nuclear Engineering at Imperial College London, and Dr. Yanchun Zhou, deputy director of advanced composite laboratory Aerospace Research Institute of Materials and Processing Technology.