Ann Arbor, Michigan, is considered a hot spot of new technologies, spurred by the local colleges and universities, with the University of Michigan in the heart of it all. Covaron Advanced Materials is a small company amongst this talent and is developing some of the most interesting advancements to the field of ceramic coatings. Covaron’s technology is a new approach to ceramic matrix composites (CMC), introducing advanced-ceramic engineered feedstocks to the world of geopolymers. These new families of materials have high formulation versatility with properties comparable to traditional ceramics. The technology utilizes a unique proprietary chemistry to combine alumino-silicate inorganic network with carefully selected technical-ceramic additives to create a new class of high-temperature-resistant materials, currently being developed under the name PetraForge®.
PetraForge consists of a two-component system that is easily mixed in conventional equipment. Once mixed, PetraForge formulations can form an intermediate gel state at room temperature or remain as a slurry, depending on exact formulation. Once heated to 300 °C, both slurry and gel state materials convert to a ceramic matrix composite. The proprietary chemistry allows mechanical, thermal, electrical, and chemical properties to be customized through modification of the inorganic network on a microstructural level as well as through the use of functional additives. PetraForge is stable up to use temperatures of 1100 °C (current limitations due only to testing equipment).