What is Ceraluminum? The Asus innovation explained

In September, Asus announced that it was opening a free exhibition as part of the London Design Festival. 

The Design You Can Feel exhibition, which explored materiality, craftsmanship and AI, placed a particular focus on the brand’s new Ceraluminum material. 

Ceraluminum is featured in Asus’ latest slew of Zenbooks, but what actually is it? Keep reading to learn everything you need to know about this high-tech material. 

What is Ceraluminum? 

Ceraluminum is a new material designed to combine with resilience of ceramic with the malleability of metal. The result is a lightweight, scratch-resistant material with a unique appearance that makes it ideal for a sleek and portable ultrabook like the Zenbook S 16. 

According to Asus, the brand spent the last four years fine-tuning Ceraluminum, including the colours, texture and hardness of the material. The colours and porosity of Ceraluminum are controlled by the electric current, voltage and mineral formula used in the manufacturing process, with no additional colour pigments added at any stage in the process. 

Asus also claims that Ceraluminum provides a more sustainable alternative to traditional laptop materials, replacing the acids typically used during aluminium anodization with pure water thanks to its new, higher voltage method. This means there are no organic compounds, volatile organic compounds or heavy metals tainting the wastewater. 

The material has apparently already gained popularity in the aerospace and luxury watch industries and Asus has its sights set on bringing it to consumer tech next.

You can watch Asus speak more about the material in the video below: 

In the video, the company explains that the new material allows for a slim 1.1cm chassis with over 3000 CNC machined cooling vents that increase airflow efficiency by 50%. 

“By using ultra-thin components and precise CNC aluminium placement, we minimise unnecessary weight without compromising structural rigidity”. 

You can currently find Ceraluminum in two Zenbook models so far: the 2024 Asus Zenbook S 16 and the Asus Zenbook S 14.