A process for producing silicon nano-particles from a raw silicon material, the process including steps of alloying the raw silicon material with at least one alloying metal to form an alloy; thereafter, processing the alloy to form alloy nano-particles; and thereafter, distilling the alloying metal from the alloy nano-particles whereby silicon nano-particles are produced.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a production method of a calcium-based metallic glass alloy molded body for medical use which has a biodegradable property, has a mechanical strength equal to or higher than that of metal materials, and enables complex molding and a wide range of applications. The calcium-based metallic glass alloy molded body for medical use is produced by mixing a metal powder including a calcium powder, alloying the mixed metal powder, and sintering the alloyed mixed metal powder.

There are provided reactive metal powder atomization manufacturing processes. For example, such processes include providing a heated metal source and contact the heated metal source with at least one additive gas while carrying out the atomization process. Such processes provide raw reactive metal powder having improved flowability. The at least one additive gas can be mixed together with an atomization gas to obtain an atomization mixture, and the heated metal source can be contacted with the atomization mixture while carrying out the atomization process. Reactive metal powder spheroidization manufacturing processes are also provided.

Methods for fabricating an interconnect for a fuel cell stack that include providing a protective layer over at least one surface of an interconnect formed by powder pressing pre-alloyed particles containing two or more metal elements and annealing the interconnect and the protective layer at elevated temperature to bond the protective layer to the at least one surface of the interconnect.

Methods for fabricating an interconnect for a fuel cell stack that include providing a protective layer over at least one surface of an interconnect formed by powder pressing pre-alloyed particles containing two or more metal elements and annealing the interconnect and the protective layer at elevated temperature to bond the protective layer to the at least one surface of the interconnect.

A product includes a ternary alloy consisting essentially of Sn.sub.4Li.sub.(4+x)Zn.sub.(8?x), where x=0 to <8. A method includes forming a ternary alloy using a mechanical alloying process. The ternary alloy consists essentially of Sn.sub.4Li.sub.(4+x)Zn.sub.(8?x), where x=0 to <8.

A thermoelectric conversion material is a polycrystalline material composed of a plurality of crystal grains and has a composition represented by formula (I): Mg.sub.3+mSb.sub.aBi.sub.2?a?cA.sub.c. In the formula (I), A is at least one element selected from the group consisting of Se and Te, the value of m is greater than or equal to 0.01 and less than or equal to 0.5, the value of a is greater than or equal to 0 and less than or equal to 1.0, and the value of c is greater than or equal to 0.001 and less than or equal to 0.06. The thermoelectric conversion material has an Mg-rich region.

Magnesium alloys and a process of manufacturing an article using magnesium alloys. During additive manufacturing, where the magnesium alloy is being deposited in a layer-by-layer manner, solidification of the melted portion of a deposited layer is performed in such a way as to ensure that about 15 percent or more of the portion being solidified includes a non-equilibrium eutectic constituent. This in turn reduces the likelihood of encountering solidification conditions that otherwise would lead to hot tearing problems. Further, upon subsequent heat treatment of the solidified layer, the eutectic constituents that were used for hot tearing resistance are dissolved so that the solidified layer may be returned to a substantially single-phase magnesium matrix such that desirable material properties such as improved flammability point, improved corrosion resistance and one or more of high yield strength, ultimate tensile strength and elongation are promoted.

Provided is a thermoelectric material which exhibits excellent thermoelectric characteristics at room temperature; a method for producing this thermoelectric material; and a thermoelectric power generation element using this thermoelectric material. In an embodiment of the present invention, a thermoelectric material contains an inorganic compound that contains magnesium (Mg), antimony (Sb) and/or bismuth (Bi), copper (Cu), and if necessary M (M is composed of at least one element that is selected from the group consisting of selenium (Se) and tellurium (Te)); and inorganic compound is represented by Mg.sub.aSb.sub.2-b-cBi.sub.bM.sub.cCu.sub.d, wherein a, b, c and d satisfy 3?a?3.5, 0?b?2, 0?c?0.06, 0?d?0.1, and (b+1)?2.

The present invention provides a thermoelectric conversion material represented by the following chemical formula Mg.sub.3+mA.sub.aB.sub.bD.sub.2-eE.sub.e. The element A represents at least one selected from the group consisting of Ca, Sr, Ba and Yb. The element B represents at least one selected from the group consisting of Mn and Zn. The value of m is not less than 0.39 and not more than 0.42. The value of a is not less than 0 and not more than 0.12. The value of b is not less than 0 and not more than 0.48. The element D represents at least one selected from the group consisting of Sb and Bi. The element E represents at least one selected from the group consisting of Se and Te. The value of e is not less than 0.001 and not more than 0.06. The thermoelectric conversion material has a La.sub.2O.sub.3 crystalline structure. The thermoelectric conversion material is of n-type. The present invention provides a novel thermoelectric conversion material.