1. The search for efficiency leads humans to look for ways to optimise the energy at their disposal. The potter's wheel, composed of an axle connecting a large wheel operated by foot to a wheel head on which the piece to be shaped is placed, allows taking advantage of kinetic energy and inertia to promote regularity and speed of shaping. The development of this device appeared as early as the 3rd millennium BC. Cipriano Piccolpasso (1524-1579), a famous potter from the Urbino region (Italy) and author of the oldest European treatise on ceramic technique, The Three Books of the Potter's Art, illustrates one of these wheels, but also mills operated by an animal or a watercourse.
2. This poster honours the manual trades that sustained the local ceramic industry: plate painting, porcelain turning, brick pressing and sorting, tile smoothing. Each vignette shows a precise gesture, transmitted through experience and essential to the quality of the pieces. It reminds us that behind the factories and chimneys, ceramics relied primarily on the know-how of women and men. In the communes of Hainaut, in Baudour in the Borinage or in La Louvière in the Centre region, as in Limoges, a very rich social and cultural life developed around the earthenware or porcelain factories. This poster combines communal pride, industrial heritage, and the memory of work.
3. The plaque (on the right) recalls an exceptional order placed in 1880 for ceramic insulators to insulate emerging electrical lines. Strong, durable, and weather-resistant, ceramics accompanied the development of modern communications. The object bears witness to Belgian industrial know-how in technical ceramics as early as the 19th century.
4. This crucible made of AZS—alumina, zirconia, and silica—is used to test the resistance of refractories in contact with molten glass. The vitrified bath visible inside shows the chemical aggressiveness suffered by the material. AZS is used in glass furnaces because it resists heat and corrosion by molten glass very well. These tests allow predicting the durability of parts before their industrial use.
5. These heating elements make it possible to reach very high temperatures in industrial kilns. When they heat up, they form a thin protective layer of silica which limits their oxidation. They illustrate the use of conductive ceramics in demanding thermal processes.
6. This silicon carbide tile protects the walls of an incinerator exposed to extreme temperatures. SiC is chosen for its very good resistance to heat, thermal shock, corrosion, and its excellent thermal conductivity.
7. This piece presents a bone substitute made of hydroxyapatite, a material close to the mineral part of our bones. It is shown here on a pig jaw model to illustrate its use in bone repair. Its porous structure promotes the attachment and progressive regrowth of natural bone. Phosphocalcic ceramics are thus used as biocompatible supports to help the body rebuild.
8. This piece illustrates the use of ceramics in prostheses, particularly for hip joints. The very smooth spherical head limits friction and wear during movement. Ceramics like alumina or zirconia are chosen for their hardness and good tolerance by the body. They allow designing durable, precise implants adapted to repeated mechanical stresses.
9. These dental prostheses are made of zirconia, a highly resistant technical ceramic. It combines strength, machining precision, and a colour close to that of natural teeth. Zirconia withstands chewing forces while offering a discreet aesthetic result. This example shows how ceramics can sustainably replace metallic materials in dental health.
10. This alumina piece has a complex geometry called a gyroid, impossible to obtain by conventional processes. It is manufactured by binder jetting, a 3D printing method where a binder progressively assembles a ceramic powder. Its highly open shape combines lightness, a large internal surface area, and good fluid circulation. It illustrates the potential of 3D-printed ceramics to create new functions.
11. This zirconia structure presents a regular network of channels, called a lattice. Its geometry allows gases or liquids to pass through while offering a large contact surface. It can thus serve as a support for catalysis, filtration, or heat exchange. Zirconia provides excellent resistance to temperature, corrosion, and harsh environments.
12. Due to its strength, resistance, and stability, sintered silicon carbide is a material used in the field of space optics. When polished, as here, it can serve as a mirror in space observation telescopes: this was the case for the Herschel telescope, launched in 2009 by Ariane 5 to study the birth of stars and the evolution of life in galaxies. It features the largest mirror, across all materials, created to date for space astronomy (3.5 m in diameter). It includes an optical system composed of two mirrors placed opposite each other, one large and concave and the other smaller; the interplay of these two mirrors allows reflecting and capturing images of space.
13. This piece uses a piezoelectric ceramic capable of deforming very slightly under the effect of an electrical voltage. The mechanism amplifies this movement to obtain a useful and very precise displacement. It can operate at very low temperatures, in demanding scientific environments. This type of component is used to finely position instruments, sensors, or samples, where every micrometre counts.
14. Zirconium diboride is a ceramic capable of withstanding extreme temperatures. Combined with silicon carbide, it gains in resistance to oxidation and thermal shock. These materials are studied for very harsh environments: aeronautics, space, or very high-temperature processes. They illustrate so-called "ultra-refractory" ceramics, designed to remain stable where many materials melt or degrade.

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