Tough cookery

Many mechanical applications need materials that are not just strong and hard, but tough and resistant to wear. The ceramic β-SiAlON is a good example — it is inherently hard and strong, and can be grown with a whiskery microstructure that makes it tough. Now the even harder α-SiAlON has been grown with the same sort of tough microstructure, promising higher-performance cutting tools and engine components, for example.