The UK ceramics industry has deep historical roots and has played a major role in technological, cultural and economic development. It spans traditional pottery, construction ceramics, and today's advanced technical ceramics. Written in collaboration with FISC member Lucideon we're looking at the opportunities around CMCs...

One of these advanced technical innovations is Ceramic Matrix Composites (CMCs); ceramic fibres integrated into a ceramic matrix, delivering exceptional thermal stability, low density, and high mechanical performance, allowing components to operate where metals and superalloys fail. Furthermore, these advanced materials represent a strategic lever to transform the legacy industries, stimulate low carbon innovation, and strengthen the UK's industrial sovereignty.

The UK CMC market is forecast to grow from USD $8.9bn in 2025 to $19.7bn by 2031 (13.9% CAGR), driven principally by aerospace and defence.

These figures position CMCs as one of the most significant materials opportunities for the UK in the coming decade. For the foundation industries (FIs), this translates into:

• New product lines (ceramic fibres, matrices, resins, coatings, high purity precursors)
• Export oriented opportunities in advanced manufacturing supply chains
• Skills and capability enhancement across materials processing
• Potential IP and technology leadership in emerging CMC manufacturing routes.

Rather than being passive suppliers, the UK FIs can become strategic partners in high value, high growth sectors, ensuring their long term relevance.

CMCs are utilised across key industrial sectors. In aerospace, for example, they form jet engine components and contribute to thermal protection systems and in defence CMCs provide the leading edges on hypersonic vehicles and form missile structures. Their ability to withstand extreme temperatures exceeding 1,500°C and sometimes approaching 3,000°C for non oxide systems, makes them uniquely suited to high efficiency engines, high temperature manufacturing, and next generation energy systems.

These properties enable downstream decarbonisation by allowing aerospace, automotive, and energy companies to deploy more efficient systems through reduced fuel consumption and emissions reductions. Their thermal and mechanical advantages mean that CMCs are able to replace metal alloys in engines, braking systems, turbines, and thermal protection systems.

CMCs can also support the wider FIs as CMC based furnace linings, burners, and thermal systems can reduce energy loss and withstand the stresses of electrification or hydrogen based heat in glass, metal, and other ceramic manufacturing processes.

At present, overseas suppliers dominate the market for extreme temperature CMCs, highlighting a potential risk to UK defence and aerospace value chains. Despite this, the UK ecosystem is developing to support sovereign capability, with efforts being made to ensure UK capability to manufacture both non oxide and oxide CMCs at scale.

A whole-systems approach is required to accelerate growth, and requires collaboration from across the FIs, not only through high purity ceramic powder production but also with efficient high temperature furnaces (gas, hydrogen, or electric), scale-up mechanisms, low-carbon manufacturing processes, and end-of-life strategies.

Unfortunately, to date, scaling of CMC manufacturing in the UK has lagged behind other countries, but this is now shifting and as global demand accelerates, driven by net zero, performance, and geopolitical pressures, the UK has a window to seize competitive advantage if FIs collaborate effectively.

Lucideon is active across the full spectrum of CMC technologies, leveraging expertise that spans Geoceramic Matrix Composites (GMCs), oxide and non oxide CMCs, and emerging ultra high temperature CMCs (UHTCMCs).

This broad capability allows them to develop materials that strategically fill performance gaps between reinforced polymers, metals, and advanced CMC systems for demanding high temperature environments. They also work in collaboration with industrial partners, for example they have recently signed an MOU with the NCC to progress the development of oxide and non-oxide CMCs for a variety of applications, providing the advanced ceramic and composite knowledge respectively.

Lucideon's composite development activities benefit from process routes tailored to the specific application, ranging from the low temperature curing approaches used for GMCs to more advanced sintering and infiltration techniques required for oxide, non oxide, and UHTCMC systems.

Across all CMC classes, they develop and customise materials for customers seeking optimised structural, thermal, and environmental performance. Whether tuning the mechanical robustness of an oxide CMC, enhancing oxidation resistance in a non oxide system, or tailoring thermal conductivity in a GMC, their technical teams provide application specific design and materials engineering to deliver high integrity solutions for next generation high temperature applications.

From FISC's standpoint, CMCs are the perfect case study for the future of sustainable industrial production:

• Enabling efficiency improvements
• High performance in demanding environments
• Aligned with national security and sovereignty priorities
• Rooted in ceramic, glass, carbon, and chemical expertise

By investing in CMC relevant capabilities, the FIs can evolve from commodity based sectors to essential contributors within a high value, innovation driven materials economy.

The shift will require coordinated policy, infrastructure investment, R&D acceleration, and the development of a skilled workforce, leading to a more resilient UK, a more sustainable industrial base, and a stronger international competitive position.

Overall, CMCs represent a rare alignment of sustainability, sovereignty, and industrial opportunity. For us, CMCs are not simply an advanced material they could be a catalyst for redefining the UK's FIs as leaders in the next era of low carbon, high performance manufacturing.

By embracing CMC capability development, the UK FIs can help anchor a new generation of materials leadership in the UK, one that reinforces economic resilience, accelerates decarbonisation, and secures the nation's position in critical global supply chains.

Published: 01-04-2026