Ceramic coatings can protect engines.

More powerful and durable diesel, aircraft, and gas-turbine engines may rev up soon, predicts Klod Kokini, professor of mechanical engineering, Purdue University, who is investigating using ceramics to protect engine parts from extreme heat. "If you want diesel or aircraft engines to operate at higher power levels, you have to raise the temperature at which they operate. The metals being used to make engine parts do not have the ability to sustain higher temperatures, but ceramic materials do."

Engines and gas-powered turbines generate tremendous heat. If the temperature gets too high, parts such as pistons or turbine...