Most ceramic production processes involve the dispersion of ceramic powders in a liquid medium – mostly water – to obtain a suspension or, more generally, a dispersed system. To provde the suspensions with the desired stability and workability, depending on the different applications, we use the addition of small quantities of suitable chemicals that, interacting with the solid particles, change the rheological behaviour of the whole system.

The episode offers a picture of two categories of chemical – deflocculants and binders – almost always involved in order to achieve the right result and therefore the correct application performance.