A super hard polycrystalline construction is disclosed as comprising a first region comprising a body of thermally stable polycrystalline diamond material comprising a plurality of intergrown grains of diamond material; a second region forming a substrate to the first region; and a third region interposed between the first and second regions. The third region extends across a surface of the second region along an interface. The interface comprises at least a portion having an uneven topology, and the third region comprises a diamond composite material including a first phase comprising a plurality of non-intergrown super hard grains, said super hard grains comprising diamond grains; and a matrix material. The superhard material and matrix material of the third region form a diamond composite material which is more acid resistant than polycrystalline diamond material having a binder-catalyst phase comprising cobalt, and/or more acid resistant than cemented tungsten carbide material.

A method of forming a super hard polycrystalline construction comprises forming a liquid suspension of a first mass of nano-ceramic particles and a mass of particles or grains of super hard material having an average particle or grain size of 1 or more microns, dispersing the particles or grains in the liquid suspension to form a substantially homogeneous suspension, drying the suspension to form an admix of the nano-ceramic and super hard grains or particles, and forming a pre-sinter assembly comprising the admix. The pre-sinter assembly is then sintered to form a body of polycrystalline super hard material comprising a first fraction of super hard grains and a second fraction, the nano-ceramic particles forming the second fraction.

The super hard grains are spaced along at least a portion of the peripheral surface by one or more nano-ceramic grains, the super hard grains having a greater average grain size than that of the grains in the second fraction which have an average size of less than around 999 nm.

A method of forming a super hard polycrystalline construction comprises forming a liquid suspension of nano-sized super hard particles and particles of super hard material having an average particle or grain size of 1 or more microns, dispersing the particles in the liquid suspension to form a substantially homogeneous suspension which is then dried and sintered to form a body of polycrystalline super hard material comprising a first and second fractions of super hard grains, the nano-sized particles forming the second fraction. The super hard grains in the first fraction are bonded along at least a portion of the peripheral surface(s) thereof to at least a portion of a plurality of nano-sized grains in the second fraction, the grains in the first fraction having a greater average grain size than that of the grains in the second fraction which is less than 999 nm, the average grain size of the first fraction being around 1 micron or more

A composite sintered material includes a plurality of diamond grains, a plurality of cubic boron nitride grains, and a remainder of a binder phase, wherein the binder phase includes cobalt, a content of the cubic boron nitride grains in the composite sintered material is more than or equal to 3 volume % and less than or equal to 40 volume %, and an average length of line segments extending across continuous cubic boron nitride grains in appropriately specified straight lines extending through the composite sintered material is less than or equal to a length three times as large as an average grain size of the cubic boron nitride grains.

A composite sintered material includes a plurality of diamond grains, a plurality of cubic boron nitride grains, and a remainder of a binder phase, wherein the binder phase includes cobalt, a content of the cubic boron nitride grains in the composite sintered material is more than or equal to 3 volume % and less than or equal to 40 volume %, and an average length of line segments extending across continuous cubic boron nitride grains in appropriately specified straight lines extending through the composite sintered material is less than or equal to a length three times as large as an average grain size of the cubic boron nitride grains.

A composite polycrystal includes: a polycrystalline diamond phase including a plurality of diamond particles; and non-diamond phases composed of non-diamond carbon. The non-diamond phases are distributed in the polycrystalline diamond phase. An average value of projected area equivalent circle diameters of the non-diamond phases is not more than 1000 nm.

A method for producing a form-stable phase-change material to nucleate sugar alcohols includes directionally freezing a slurry of solid chitosan and solvent and additives, providing a frozen slurry including unidirectional pillars of frozen solvent that force suspended solid particles into interstices, exposing the frozen slurry to conditions causing sublimation of the solvent of the frozen slurry to remove frozen solvent and provide a body having pillars of vacancies therein, sintering the body to provide a scaffold including the pillars of vacancies therein, graphitizing the scaffold by heating in argon, treating the scaffold with aqueous base, and adding a molten sugar alcohol phase-change material to the scaffold such that the molten phase-change material is drawn into the pillars of vacancies by capillary action to provide the form-stable phase-change material having reduced hysteresis of the melting point of the sugar alcohol phase-change material.

A composite polycrystal contains polycrystalline diamond formed of diamond grains that are directly bonded mutually, and non-diamond carbon dispersed in the polycrystalline diamond, and has a concentration of contained hydrogen of less than or equal to 1000 ppm.

This application describes a method of making a super-hard article that includes a super-hard structure bonded to a substrate. The super-hard structure generally includes a sintered plurality of super-hard grains made from cubic boron nitride. The method generally includes providing raw material powder suitable for sintering the super-hard structure; combining the raw material powder with an organic binder material in a liquid medium to form a paste; providing a substrate assembly having a formation surface area configured for forming a boundary of the super-hard structure, the substrate having a recess coterminous with the formation surface area; extruding the paste into contact with the formation surface area to provide a paste assembly; and heat treating and/or sintering the paste assembly to remove the binder material and provide a pre-sinter assembly.

This application describes a method of making a super-hard article that includes a super-hard structure bonded to a substrate. The super-hard structure generally includes a sintered plurality of super-hard grains made from cubic boron nitride. The method generally includes providing raw material powder suitable for sintering the super-hard structure; combining the raw material powder with an organic binder material in a liquid medium to form a paste; providing a substrate assembly having a formation surface area configured for forming a boundary of the super-hard structure, the substrate having a recess coterminous with the formation surface area; extruding the paste into contact with the formation surface area to provide a paste assembly; and heat treating and/or sintering the paste assembly to remove the binder material and provide a pre-sinter assembly.