Why is "ceramic" a gimmick in car care?Updated 2 months ago

In materials science, the term "ceramic" refers to a wide range of materials that are hard, non-metallic, inorganic compounds that are typically made by heating and subsequent cooling. Ceramics include materials like clay (used in pottery), porcelain, bricks, tiles, glass, and advanced materials like alumina, silicon carbide, and many others. These materials are generally composed of silicates (which include silica or silicon dioxide), oxides, nitrides, carbides, etc., and they exhibit properties such as hardness, brittleness, heat resistance, and electrical insulation.

The presence of silica (SiO2) is common in many ceramic materials because it acts as a fundamental building block in their structure, particularly in silicate ceramics. However, not all products containing silica qualify as ceramics. The key difference lies in the material's composition, structure, and production process. For a product to be considered ceramic, it typically undergoes processes like firing at high temperatures to achieve desired physical and chemical properties, such as hardness, structural stability, and resistance to heat and corrosion.

In marketing, some companies may describe their products as "ceramic" to imply that they share some of the desirable properties of traditional ceramics, such as durability or heat resistance. This is particularly common with products like "ceramic coatings" or sealants for automotive and other applications, which may contain silica or silicates to improve their performance characteristics. While these products might exhibit certain ceramic-like properties due to their silica content, it doesn't mean they are ceramics in the traditional sense of materials science.

Therefore, while silica is a common component in ceramics, its presence alone in a product does not automatically make that product a ceramic. The classification depends on the material's composition, structure, and how it's been processed.

Just because a product has silica in it like a ceramic, doesn't mean that it is a ceramic. It would be like calling a Twinkie snack cake a "Gourmet Wedding Cake" because they both contain sugar.