A method for providing a surface finish to a metal part includes both diffusion hardening a metal surface to form a diffusion-hardened layer, and oxidizing the diffusion-hardened layer to create an oxide coating thereon. The diffusion-hardened layer can be harder than an internal region of the metal part and might be ceramic, and the oxide coating can have a color that is different from the metal or ceramic, the color being unachievable only by diffusion hardening or only by oxidizing. The metal can be titanium or titanium alloy, the diffusion hardening can include carburizing or nitriding, and the oxidizing can include electrochemical oxidization. The oxide layer thickness can be controlled via the amount of voltage applied during oxidation, with the oxide coating color being a function of thickness. An enhanced hardness profile can extend to a depth of at least 20 microns below the top of the oxide coating.

Methods of preparing improved metal hydride alloy materials are provided. The alloys include a mixture of at least four of vanadium, titanium, nickel, chromium, and iron. The alloy is processed by at least one of thermal and physical treatment to generate a refined microstructure exhibiting improved kinetics when used as electrodes in MH batteries (e.g., higher discharge current). The thermal treatment includes rapid cooling of the alloy at greater than 10.sup.4 K/s. The physical treatment includes mechanical pulverization of the alloy after cooling. The microstructure is a single phase (body centered cubic) with a heterogeneous composition including a plurality of primary regions having a lattice parameter selected from the range of 3.02 to 3.22 and a plurality of secondary regions having a lattice parameter selected from the range of 3.00 to 3.22 and at least one physical dimension having a maximum average value less than 1 m.

Methods of preparing improved metal hydride alloy materials are provided. The alloys include a mixture of at least four of vanadium, titanium, nickel, chromium, and iron. The alloy is processed by at least one of thermal and physical treatment to generate a refined microstructure exhibiting improved kinetics when used as electrodes in MH batteries (e.g., higher discharge current). The thermal treatment includes rapid cooling of the alloy at greater than 10.sup.4 K/s. The physical treatment includes mechanical pulverization of the alloy after cooling. The microstructure is a single phase (body centered cubic) with a heterogeneous composition including a plurality of primary regions having a lattice parameter selected from the range of 3.02 to 3.22 and a plurality of secondary regions having a lattice parameter selected from the range of 3.00 to 3.22 and at least one physical dimension having a maximum average value less than 1 m.

A cutting tool comprises a base including a hard alloy and a coating layer located on a surface of the base, wherein the coating layer comprises at least one TiCN layer, an Al.sub.2O.sub.3 layer and an outermost layer which are laminated in order from a side of the base, and a content of Cl at a thickness-center position of the TiCN layer is higher than a content of Cl at a thickness-center position of the outermost layer and the content of Cl at the thickness-center position of the outermost layer is higher than a content of Cl at a thickness-center position of the Al.sub.2O.sub.3 layer in a glow-discharge emission spectrometry (GDS analysis).

A cutting tool comprises a base including a hard alloy and a coating layer located on a surface of the base, wherein the coating layer comprises at least one TiCN layer, an Al.sub.2O.sub.3 layer and an outermost layer which are laminated in order from a side of the base, and a content of Cl at a thickness-center position of the TiCN layer is higher than a content of Cl at a thickness-center position of the outermost layer and the content of Cl at the thickness-center position of the outermost layer is higher than a content of Cl at a thickness-center position of the Al.sub.2O.sub.3 layer in a glow-discharge emission spectrometry (GDS analysis).

A laminate including a metallic base material, a first nickel-containing plating film layer formed on the metallic base material, a gold plating film layer formed on the first nickel-containing plating film layer, a second nickel-containing plating film layer formed on the gold plating film layer, and a nickel fluoride film layer formed on the second nickel-containing plating film layer. Also disclosed is a method for producing the laminate as well as a constituent member of a semiconductor production device including the laminate.

The present invention relates to a method for producing an electrode for alkaline electrolysis based on a composition of metal sulfides on a Ni foam substrate. The metal can be Mo, Ni, Co, Fe and/or W. In a first step S1), there is performed a metal deposition, e.g. by electroplating, the metal, Me1/Me2, being Mo, Ni, Co, Fe, and/or W, on a Ni foam substrate resulting in a metal-Ni compound being formed on and/or in the Ni foam substrate. In a second step, S2) there is performed a sulfiding on the metal-Ni compound from the first step S1). The third step S3) is an optional repetition of S1 and/or S2 at least one time. The step S1) and step S2) thereby result in the formation of electrocatalytic active nano-sites with Me1-Me2-SNi compounds. It is found that these nano-sites are capable of reducing the so-called overpotential of the electrodes during alkaline water electrolysis, and the production of electrodes may be significantly simplified.

Provide a metal surface reforming method enabling metallic products with superior characteristics such as surface hardness, heat resistance, corrosion resistance, high temperature oxidation, high temperature corrosion, and environmental corrosion and the like. Halogenation treatment of heating and retaining a base material in an atmosphere containing a halogen based gas is performed on a base material of iron based metal or nickel based metal, then nitride processing of heating and retaining the halogenated base material described above in an atmosphere containing a nitrogen source gas is performed, then chromizing treatment is performed by placing the nitrided base material in a powder containing metal chromium powder to form a surface reformed layer on the base material described above. These metallic products obtained have high hardness, superior heat resistance and corrosion resistance, and exhibit superior performance in high temperature oxidation, high temperature corrosion, erosion, and cavitation and the like environments. Further, the metallic products described above exhibit superior performance in acid or alkali environments, neutral environments, and corrosive environments such as chlorides like salt water.

Provide a metal surface reforming method enabling metallic products with superior characteristics such as surface hardness, heat resistance, corrosion resistance, high temperature oxidation, high temperature corrosion, and environmental corrosion and the like. Halogenation treatment of heating and retaining a base material in an atmosphere containing a halogen based gas is performed on a base material of iron based metal or nickel based metal, then nitride processing of heating and retaining the halogenated base material described above in an atmosphere containing a nitrogen source gas is performed, then chromizing treatment is performed by placing the nitrided base material in a powder containing metal chromium powder to form a surface reformed layer on the base material described above. These metallic products obtained have high hardness, superior heat resistance and corrosion resistance, and exhibit superior performance in high temperature oxidation, high temperature corrosion, erosion, and cavitation and the like environments. Further, the metallic products described above exhibit superior performance in acid or alkali environments, neutral environments, and corrosive environments such as chlorides like salt water.

A method for providing a surface finish to a metal part includes both diffusion hardening a metal surface to form a diffusion-hardened layer, and oxidizing the diffusion-hardened layer to create an oxide coating thereon. The diffusion-hardened layer can be harder than an internal region of the metal part and might be ceramic, and the oxide coating can have a color that is different from the metal or ceramic, the color being unachievable only by diffusion hardening or only by oxidizing. The metal can be titanium or titanium alloy, the diffusion hardening can include carburizing or nitriding, and the oxidizing can include electrochemical oxidization. The oxide layer thickness can be controlled via the amount of voltage applied during oxidation, with the oxide coating color being a function of thickness. An enhanced hardness profile can extend to a depth of at least 20 microns below the top of the oxide coating.