ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the desirable characteristics that a powder should possess for the production of successful ceramics and then considers some of the main synthesis methods. Powder synthesis by chemical methods is an area of ceramic processing which has received a high degree of interest and has seen considerable developments since the early 1980s. Powders of advanced ceramics are generally synthesized by chemical methods either from synthetic materials or from naturally occurring raw materials that have undergone a considerable degree of chemical refinement. A variety of methods exist for the synthesis of ceramic powders. The chapter divides the powder synthesis methods into two categories: mechanical methods and chemical methods. Powder preparation by solid-state reactions generally has an advantage in terms of production cost. However, the powder quality is also important for advanced ceramics. A few methods utilize the formation of a semirigid gel or a highly viscous resin from liquid precursors as an intermediate step in the synthesis of ceramic powders.
