§ Mr. John H. Osbornasked the Secretary of State for Industry what has been spent by his Department so far on the support for research and development of sialons; and what information he has about their properties, cost of production and use; whether he has any information about potential commercial use and trials of these materials by industry; and whether any of the research and development organisations responsible to him will be reporting on this.
§ Mr. MacGregorThe Department provided £64,000 via the Engineering Materials Requirements Board in support of a crucial phase in the development of sialons as novel engineering materials.
Sialons are a group of ceramic materials deriving from the initial invention of Professor Jack at Newcastle. They consist of three dimensional networks containing various proportions of the elements silicon, aluminium, oxygen and nitrogen. The materials, which can initially be extruded or moulded, can be made extremely hard and resistant to mechanical wear, high temperatures, corrosion etc. By the nature of the basic ingredients, the cost of production is modest and is determined by the usual rules of costing for a product of low unit volume and high end value.
Sialons show promise in applications such as mechanical seals for high temperatures, low friction bearings and nose cones for missiles. Their main competitors are silicon carbide and silicon nitride over which they show significant advantages in particular applications.
The Department cannot disclose specific information on the commercial use and trials being undertaken by industry. It is known that competitive work is being undertaken in a number of countries, notably Japan and the USA. The United Kingdom still has a technical lead and, with its favourable patent position, United Kingdom industry is well placed to establish a strong commercial presence.
No research and development organisation responsible to the Department is currently undertaking work on sialons.