Ceramic composites and methods of making and using the same

A method of forming a ceramic composite comprising:

• a) providing a mixture comprising:
• 1) A liquid preceramic precursor, and
• 2) One or more substrates, wherein the one or more substrates is selected from a solid substrate, a liquid substrate, or both the solid substrate and the liquid substrate, wherein the solid substrates and liquid substrates are independently selected from the group consisting of:
• an ultra-high temperature ceramic (UHTC), carbon, an electrically-conductive material, magnetic-conductive material, and a combination of these,
• b) heating the mixture at a temperature for a time effective to cure the liquid preceramic precursor to form a solid mixture;
• c) subjecting the solid mixture to one or more forces to form particles of the solid mixture;
• d) pressing the particles of the solid mixture into a mold having a pre-selected shape to form compacts of the solid mixture;
• and
• e) pyrolyzing the solid mixture in step (b) or the compacts in step (d) or both at a temperature for a time effective to form the ceramic composite material.