Most of the up to day research on ceramic-graphene composites is focused on materials prepared through consolidation of granulates obtained from low concentration suspensions of ceramic and graphene powders. Although this approach proved effective in the preparation of such materials, the performance of obtained materials was much below what was expected. The reason for it can be attributed to deterioration of graphene platelets during processing (breaking of the platelets and agglomeration) and inhibition of the sintering process. One of the most plausible solutions for these problems is application of other shaping techniques, such as colloidal processing. It should lead to decrease in the number of steps required for the preparation of final materials as well as improvement of the homogeneity within the materials. Though it sounds appealing several problems need to be resolved for the practical application of colloidal processing in preparation of ceramic-graphene composites. The most severe problem is the fact that suspensions with higher concentration of graphene or its derivatives tend to have high viscosity. This, in turn, puts a limitation on the maximum graphene content within prepared suspensions and final materials that does not compromise their quality. Such limitation makes reaching percolation threshold much harder. In this presentation Authors would like to share their insights into preparation of ceramic-graphene composites through the colloidal processing route. Rheological study of ceramic – graphene oxide systems and their behaviour as well as performance of some of the materials prepared through this route will be presented. In addition, functionalization of graphene oxide will be proposed as a solution to abovementioned problems of colloidal shaping of ceramic-graphene composites. The influence of graphene oxide modified by polyhydroxy compound on the properties of both slurries and sintered bodies will be discussed.
 
This work has been financially supported by Warsaw University of Technology.