Fiber-reinforced Ceramic-Matrix Composites (CMC) have been historically developed for space and military applications because of their outstanding high-temperature thermal and structural performances; their application range has broadened to friction components (brakes, clutches, etc.) and to industry (casings, heat exchangers, etc). They also are developed in the frame of nuclear fission and fusion technologies. 

The French Research Group GDR “(CMC)2 : Ceramic-Matrix Composites , Characterization, Modeling, Conception” gathers some 18 research teams associated to CNRS, CEA, ONERA, IRT and many French Universities and Engineering High Schools, together with 7 other contributors interested in the application of CMCs in all possible domains of economic activity. The GDR (CMC)2 organizes seminars on CMC research & development topics and fosters national and international cooperation on CMC research projects.

CMCs they are still often expensive materials because their production volume is not large. Findingnew markets for them is therefore an important objective for their development. This presentation will discuss some cases of potential uses of CMC in economic areas in which they are still scarcely presentas of now. These incoming opportunities for CMCs are fed by evolutions in the energy market and by its shift towards the use of more hydrogen and “green fuels”. Examples of ongoing prospective works in nuclear waste storage engineering and in steelmaking will be discussed.

The authors thank the support of the European Commission for its support of the H2020 “CEM-WAVE” project under the number 958170 and of the Horizon Europe “RecHycle” project under the number 101058692.