Methods of determining and controlling the deformability of ceramic materials, as a nonlimiting example, YSZ, particularly through the application of a flash sintering process, and to ceramic materials produced by such methods. Such a method includes providing a nanocrystalline powder of a ceramic material, making a compact of the powder, and subjecting the compact to flash sintering by applying an electric field and thermal energy to the compact.

A battery 2 includes an outer can 10 and an electrode group 22 that is housed in the outer can 10 together with an alkaline electrolytic solution, in which a positive electrode 24 included in the electrode group 22 includes a positive electrode substrate and a positive electrode mixture supported on the positive electrode substrate, the positive electrode mixture includes nickel hydroxide and a positive electrode additive, the positive electrode additive includes a titanium oxide particle having an anatase-type crystal structure, the titanium oxide particle has an average primary particle size of 5 nm or more and 10 nm or less and a BET specific surface area of 230 m.sup.2/g or more and 360 m.sup.2/g or less, and includes 0.1% by mass or more of niobium, and a rate of addition of the titanium oxide relative to the nickel hydroxide is 0.1% by mass or more and 1.0% by mass or less.

An efficient green method for the synthesis of noble metal/transition metal oxide nanocomposite comprising reducing noble metal salt and a templating metal oxide is disclosed. The method is a one-step method comprises mixing coffee seed husk extract, a noble metal precursor, and a transition metal precursor; and filtering and drying the nanocomposite. The nanocomposite prepared by the method of the invention displays all the characteristics and biocidal activity of a composite prepared by traditional methods.

An efficient green method for the synthesis of noble metal/transition metal oxide nanocomposite comprising reducing noble metal salt and a templating metal oxide is disclosed. The method is a one-step method comprises mixing coffee seed husk extract, a noble metal precursor, and a transition metal precursor; and filtering and drying the nanocomposite. The nanocomposite prepared by the method of the invention displays all the characteristics and biocidal activity of a composite prepared by traditional methods.

This powder satisfies requirements 1 and 2.

Requirement 1: |dA(T)/dT| satisfies 10 ppm/° C. or more at at least one temperature Ti in a range of −200° C. to 1200° C. A is (a-axis (shorter axis) lattice constant) of a crystal in the powder)/(c-axis (longer axis) lattice constant of the crystal in the powder), and each of the lattice constants is obtained by X-ray diffractometry of the powder. Requirement 2: a particle diameter D50 at a cumulative frequency of 50%, a particle diameter D10 at a cumulative frequency of 10%, and a particle diameter D90 at a cumulative frequency of 90% in a volume-based cumulative particle diameter distribution curve obtained by a laser diffraction scattering method satisfy conditions (I) and (II): (I) D10/D50 is 0.05 or more and 0.45 or less; and (II) 190 is 0.5 μm or more and 70 μm or less.

The invention provides a dispersion of precursor titanium dioxide particles having an intensity mean peak value particle size, measured by DLS, or a number mean peak value particle size, measured by DLS, in the range from 0.2 to 2.0 μm within a dispersing medium, wherein the particle size distribution of the titanium dioxide particles in dispersion is narrower than the particle size distribution of the precursor titanium dioxide particles. There is also provided the use of the dispersion of titanium dioxide particles to attenuate infrared radiation, particularly in a cosmetic composition, more particularly a cosmetic composition to provide protection against IR radiation, more particularly IRA radiation. There is also provided a personal care composition comprising the titanium dioxide dispersion.

The invention provides a dispersion of precursor titanium dioxide particles having an intensity mean peak value particle size, measured by DLS, or a number mean peak value particle size, measured by DLS, in the range from 0.2 to 2.0 μm within a dispersing medium, wherein the particle size distribution of the titanium dioxide particles in dispersion is narrower than the particle size distribution of the precursor titanium dioxide particles. There is also provided the use of the dispersion of titanium dioxide particles to attenuate infrared radiation, particularly in a cosmetic composition, more particularly a cosmetic composition to provide protection against IR radiation, more particularly IRA radiation. There is also provided a personal care composition comprising the titanium dioxide dispersion.

Titanium dioxide (TiO2) forms the basis of devices for applications including sensing devices, solar cells, photo-electrochromics, and photocatalysis. Such devices exploit different phases of TiO2 within such devices and accordingly it would be beneficial to have an amorphous TiO2 precursor which allows crystalline phase spatial patterning, for the crystallization of the amorphous TiO2 precursor to be triggered at low energies, and with the crystalline phase controllable at room-temperature without necessitating complex handling whilst providing TiO2 phases that ate stable over a prolonged period of time. Accordingly, there ate provided processes for providing a TiO2 precursor and controlling the conversion of the TiO2 precursor from amorphous-to-anatase, amorphous-to-rutile, amorphous-to-mixture of anatase/rutile or from amorphous-to-anatase-to-rutile in a simple and efficient manner.

Titanium dioxide (TiO2) forms the basis of devices for applications including sensing devices, solar cells, photo-electrochromics, and photocatalysis. Such devices exploit different phases of TiO2 within such devices and accordingly it would be beneficial to have an amorphous TiO2 precursor which allows crystalline phase spatial patterning, for the crystallization of the amorphous TiO2 precursor to be triggered at low energies, and with the crystalline phase controllable at room-temperature without necessitating complex handling whilst providing TiO2 phases that ate stable over a prolonged period of time. Accordingly, there ate provided processes for providing a TiO2 precursor and controlling the conversion of the TiO2 precursor from amorphous-to-anatase, amorphous-to-rutile, amorphous-to-mixture of anatase/rutile or from amorphous-to-anatase-to-rutile in a simple and efficient manner.

A method for the preparation of titanium dioxide, the method comprising the steps of subjecting a titanium containing leach residue to a concentrated sulfuric acid digest step; and in turn subjecting that residue to a leach in dilute sulfuric acid, whereby a black liquor is obtained and from which titanium dioxide is in turn obtained.