There are many applications of technical interest, however, including such wide-ranging uses as supports for electronic devices and catalysts, separation membranes, cutting tools, components for use in high temperature corrosive environments such as engines, and, increasingly, biomedical applications. Bioceramics can have structural functions as joint or tissue replacements, can be used as coatings to improve the biocompatibility of metal implants, and can function as resorbable lattices which provide temporary structures and a framework that is dissolved, replaced as the body rebuilds tissue.
Some ceramics even feature drug-delivery capability.
Materials for surgical implants and medical devices must, before all else, be non-toxic. The perfect material for medical applications would not only be biocompatible, but also have physical properties similar to those of the tissue being replaced or repaired. Ceramics, though they include good chemical and corrosion-resistant properties, are notoriously brittle. Researchers therefore have sought ways of combining desirable ceramics with other materials to tailor properties such as strength and elasticity to meet system requirements. Composites, functionally gradient materials, and coatings have been studied to optimize material choices.