A laboratory crucible is a container that can endure extremely high temperatures, is used to stop metals, glass, and pigment from melting in a furnace. Laboratory crucibles are used in metal casting experiments and are made of materials that have a far higher melting point than the materials that are being melted within, with high strength even at extremely high temperatures.

Laboratory crucibles are a fundamental part of laboratory equipment and are also quite valuable. This is why laboratory crucibles must be used and maintained correctly so that they have the highest possible service life.

Using Laboratory Crucibles Effectively

It is important to be vigilant when using the crucibles and ensuring they are treated safely. Laboratory crucibles shoul...

Crucibles are engineered to withstand extremely high temperatures, so they need to be made of robust materials. Heat has historically been the defining factor underlying crucible material selection. Thus the earliest crucibles were made of fired clay, and were gradually replaced by earthen minerals with greater refractory properties.

Throughout the pre-industrial era and into the modern age, crucibles have increasingly been leveraged to melt and test more challenging materials. So, while high operating temperatures remained an acute requirement, additional demands were placed upon these utensils, including the need to withstand aggressive melt chemistries. A key part of the crucible selection criteria now is chemical compatibility, i.e. will molten materials react with the contai...

A crucible is a vessel used to melt substances, usually metallic elements, prior to casting. This demands extremely high-temperature resistance, plus outstanding chemical and physical stability. As a minimum, crucibles must have a melting point higher than that of the materials they contain. They must also be chemically compatible with melts otherwise there is a risk of reactions occurring between the vessel walls and the molten substance. This can lead to rapid crucible deterioration and melt contamination.

What are Crucibles Used for?

The word crucible is often used in a metaphorical sense to describe a severe situation whereby multiple elements interact to create something new. That is an apt description of the actual working principles of crucibles in ...

(more…)