In the last decades, the industrial production of ceramic materials has undergone great changes, both from the quantity and quality points of view. Tiles have been the most representative ceramic products of such evolution, starting from the simplest and cheapest product, suitable for satisfying the most basic needs of waterproofing wall lining which can be easily cleaned, to a product of refined aesthetical quality, appreciated as a decorative element.

Kao Corporation, based on their "dispersion technology" which is being applied, at present, to fields like: desalination, paper coating, gypsum, textile, pumpers, CDs etc, has created a wide range of deffloculants for ceramics.

Deffloculants are used in order to improve the manipulation and the manufacturing process of ceramic slurries. They permit:

- Reduced viscosity.
- increased concentration, thus improving production
capacity and process economy.
- Control slurry & powder particle size distribution.
- Increase green body strength.

In addition to deflocculants, and as complementary products, Kao also offers types of chemical additives to improve the production process and the final properties of enamels. They give the following advantages:

- Correct thixotropic behaviour.

- Increased resistance of enamel surface.

- Obtain dispersing and glue effect.

- Dystuff dispersants.

- Surface tension modifiers.

- Contamination control.