A process for preparing an electride compound, comprising (i) providing a precursor compound comprising an oxidic compound of the garnet group; (ii) heating the precursor provided in (i) under plasma forming conditions in a gas atmosphere to a temperature of the precursor above the Httig temperature of the precursor, obtaining the electride compound.

A process for preparing a mesoporous material, e.g., transition metal oxide, sulfide, selenide or telluride, Lanthanide metal oxide, sulfide, selenide or telluride, a post-transition metal oxide, sulfide, selenide or telluride and metalloid oxide, sulfide, selenide or telluride. The process comprises providing an acidic mixture comprising a metal precursor, an interface modifier, a hydrotropic or lyotropic ion precursor, and a surfactant; and heating the acidic mixture at a temperature and for a period of time sufficient to form the mesoporous material. A mesoporous material prepared by the above process. A method of controlling nano-sized wall crystallinity and mesoporosity in mesoporous materials. The method comprises providing an acidic mixture comprising a metal precursor, an interface modifier, a hydrotropic or lyotropic ion precursor, and a surfactant; and heating the acidic mixture at a temperature and for a period of time sufficient to control nano-sized wall crystallinity and mesoporosity in the mesoporous material. Mesoporous materials and a method of tuning structural properties of mesoporous materials.

The object of the present invention is to provide an exhaust gas purifying catalyst that can achieve high purification performance while suppressing H.sub.2S emissions. The object is solved by an exhaust gas purifying catalyst in which the lower layer of the catalyst coating layer comprises a ceria-zirconia composite oxide having a pyrochlore-type ordered array structure, in which the ceria-zirconia composite oxide contains at least one additional element selected from the group consisting of praseodymium, lanthanum, and yttrium at 0.5 to 5.0 mol % in relation to the total cation amount, and the molar ratio of (cerium+additional element):(zirconium) is within the range from 43:57 to 48:52.

The present invention identifies decay and other events included in the emission of an LaBr.sub.3 scintillator and only collects ray events. An LaBr.sub.3 scintillation detector is provided with an LaBr3 scintillator 10, a photomultiplier tube 12, an oscilloscope 14, and a computer 18. The computer 18 detects a peak value Vp and a total charge amount Q.sub.total of a voltage waveform signal and calculates an error propagation expression function for a ratio of the peak value Vp to the total charge amount Q.sub.total. This error propagation expression function is used as a threshold function for identifying and removing decay events. The decay events are identified from the peak value Vp and total charge amount Q.sub.total, which are measurement values that can be measured in real time.

Rare earth compound particles are prepared by a step of heating an aqueous solution containing rare earth metal ions and urea to form a rare earth compound by a reaction of a hydrolysis product of urea, and the rare earth metal ions. In the heating step, heating the aqueous solution into which an acetylene glycol-ethylene oxide adduct is added.

Provided is a ceramic composition capable of achieving a light scattering function while maintaining optical properties at a high level. The ceramic composition comprises a fluorescence phase comprising a fluorescent material and a light-scattering phase comprising a lanthanum oxide. The lanthanum oxide may be, for example, at least one selected from LaAlO.sub.3 and La.sub.2O.sub.3. The ratio of the fluorescent material (or the fluorescence phase) to the lanthanum oxide (or the light-scattering phase), the former/the latter, may be 99.9/0.1 to 50/50 in terms of volume ratio.

A method of preparing cerium boride powder, according to the present invention, includes a first step for generating mixed powder by mixing at least one selected from among cerium chloride (CeCl.sub.3) powder and cerium oxide (CeO.sub.2) powder, at least one selected from among magnesium hydride (MgH.sub.2) powder and magnesium (Mg) powder, and boron oxide (B.sub.2O.sub.3) powder, a second step for generating composite powder including cerium boride (Ce.sub.xB.sub.y) and at least one selected from among magnesium oxide (MgO) and magnesium chloride (MgCl.sub.2), by causing reaction in the mixed powder at room temperature based on a ball milling process, and a third step for selectively depositing cerium boride powder by dispersing the composite powder in a solution.

A method of preparing cerium boride powder, according to the present invention, includes a first step for generating mixed powder by mixing at least one selected from among cerium chloride (CeCl.sub.3) powder and cerium oxide (CeO.sub.2) powder, at least one selected from among magnesium hydride (MgH.sub.2) powder and magnesium (Mg) powder, and boron oxide (B.sub.2O.sub.3) powder, a second step for generating composite powder including cerium boride (Ce.sub.xB.sub.y) and at least one selected from among magnesium oxide (MgO) and magnesium chloride (MgCl.sub.2), by causing reaction in the mixed powder at room temperature based on a ball milling process, and a third step for selectively depositing cerium boride powder by dispersing the composite powder in a solution.

The invention provides a method for recovering scandium from an acidic solution containing scandium. The method having [a] a precipitation step wherein sodium sulfate is added into the acidic solution containing scandium to obtain a precipitate of a scandium double sulfate; [b] a neutralization step wherein pure water is added to the precipitate of a scandium double sulfate to dissolve the precipitate of a scandium double sulfate therein, and scandium hydroxide is obtained by adding a neutralizing agent into the dissolution liquid; and [c] a re-dissolution step wherein an acid is added to the scandium hydroxide obtained in the neutralization step, so that a scandium dissolution after purification, in which the scandium hydroxide is dissolved, is obtained.

The object of the present invention is to provide an exhaust gas purifying catalyst that can achieve high purification performance while suppressing H.sub.2S emissions. The object is solved by an exhaust gas purifying catalyst in which the top layer of a catalyst coating layer comprises a ceria-zirconia composite oxide having a pyrochlore-type ordered array structure, in which the ceria-zirconia composite oxide contains at least one additional element selected from the group consisting of praseodymium, lanthanum, and yttrium at 0.5 to 5.0 mol % in relation to the total cation amount, and the molar ratio of (cerium+additional element):(zirconium) is within the range from 43:57 to 48:52.