Ceramic materials are ubiquitous in the world of construction. Building materials such as cement, bricks, tiles, or electrical insulators like porcelain are all ceramic products that we rely on in our daily lives. These ceramics are manufactured by a method called sintering—the process of turning powdery solids into a hardened mass by applying pressure or temperature. Most sintering processes involve temperatures beyond 1,000ºC, which makes this method very energy-hungry. Moreover, the high temperature also makes the sintering of raw materials such as carbonates and hydroxides difficult as they are prone to thermal decomposition at high temperatures.
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Source: Phys.org