A dental implant having a surface made of a ceramic material. At least a part of the surface includes recesses and cavities formed by removal of discrete grains having an average grain size from 0.1 m to 0.6 m and/or agglomerates of these grains from the ceramic material.

Compositions and methods are presented that selectively dissolve calcium from a variety of cementitious materials without dissolving or otherwise degrading calcium silica hydrate (CSH). Preferably, contemplated compositions comprise guanidine bisulfate hydrochloride, which can be prepared from a reaction of urea, hydrochloric acid, and sulfamic acid. Therefore, it is especially contemplated that the compositions contemplated herein are particularly suitable to clean or otherwise condition surfaces of cured concrete, Portland cement-based material, or an aggregate containing CSH.

A ceramic device including a ceramic material, a patterned metal structure, and a surface activation material is provided. A surface of the ceramic material at least includes a first surface and a second surface that are not coplanar. The ceramic material has recesses on the surface thereof. The patterned metal structure is disposed on the first surface and the second surface. The surface activation material is disposed on a surface of the recesses and located at an interface between the ceramic material and the patterned metal structure.

An aqueous modified acid composition for industrial activities, said composition comprising: an alkanolamine and strong acid in a molar ratio of not less than 1:15, preferably not less than 1:10; it can also further comprise a metal iodide or iodate. Said composition demonstrates advantages over known conventional acids and modified acids.

A method for forming a protective coating on a surface of a ceramic substrate includes combining a rare-earth oxide, alumina, and silica to form a powder, etching the surface of the ceramic substrate, applying the powder on the etched surface in an amount of from about 0.001 to about 0.1 g/cm.sup.2 to reduce capture of bubbles from off-gassing of the ceramic substrate, heating the powder for a time of from about 5 to about 60 minutes to a temperature at or above the melting point such that the powder melts and forms a molten coating on the surface that has a minimized number of bubbles, and cooling the molten coating to ambient temperature to form the protective coating disposed on and in direct contact with the surface of the ceramic substrate such that the protective coating has a thickness of less than about 1 mil.

A method for forming a protective coating on a surface of a ceramic substrate includes combining a rare-earth oxide, alumina, and silica to form a powder, etching the surface of the ceramic substrate, applying the powder on the etched surface in an amount of from about 0.001 to about 0.1 g/cm.sup.2 to reduce capture of bubbles from off-gassing of the ceramic substrate, heating the powder for a time of from about 5 to about 60 minutes to a temperature at or above the melting point such that the powder melts and forms a molten coating on the surface that has a minimized number of bubbles, and cooling the molten coating to ambient temperature to form the protective coating disposed on and in direct contact with the surface of the ceramic substrate such that the protective coating has a thickness of less than about 1 mil.

An etchant composition is presented. The composition includes: 18 wt % to 25 wt % of a first organic acid compound; 15 wt % to 20 wt % of a second organic acid compound; 8.1 wt % to 9.9 wt % of an inorganic acid compound; 1 wt % to 4.9 wt % of a sulfonic acid compound; 10 wt % to 20 wt % of a hydrogen sulfate salt compound; 1 wt % to 5 wt % of a nitrogen-containing dicarbonyl compound; 1 wt % to 5 wt % of an amino acid derivative compound; 0.1 wt % to 2 wt % of an iron-containing oxidizing agent compound; and a balance amount of water.

A process for providing a topography to the surface of a dental implant, the surface being made of a ceramic material having yttria-stabilized zirconia, the process including: providing a macroscopic roughness to the surface of the dental implant by a mechanical process and/or injection molding technique; and etching at least a part of the roughened surface, wherein etching is carried out using an etching solution having hydrofluoric acid at a temperature of 70 C. at least, such that discrete grains or agglomerates of grains are removed from the yttria-stabilized zirconia, thereby forming recesses and cavities in the roughened surface is disclosed.

A cubic boron nitride particle population having highly-etched surfaces and a high toughness index is produced by blending a reactive metal powder with a plurality of cubic boron nitride particles to form a blended mixture. The blended mixture is compressed to form a compressed mixture. The compressed mixture is subjected to a temperature and a pressure, where the temperature is controlled to cause etching of the plurality of cubic boron nitride particles by reaction of cubic boron nitride with the reactive metal powder, thereby forming a plurality of etched cubic boron nitride particles. Also, the temperature and pressure are controlled to cause boron nitride to remain in a cubic boron nitride phase. Afterwards, the plurality of etched cubic boron nitride particles is recovered from the compressed mixture to form the particle population. Preferably, the particle population contains no hexagonal boron nitride.

A cubic boron nitride particle population having highly-etched surfaces and a high toughness index is produced by blending a reactive metal powder with a plurality of cubic boron nitride particles to form a blended mixture. The blended mixture is compressed to form a compressed mixture. The compressed mixture is subjected to a temperature and a pressure, where the temperature is controlled to cause etching of the plurality of cubic boron nitride particles by reaction of cubic boron nitride with the reactive metal powder, thereby forming a plurality of etched cubic boron nitride particles. Also, the temperature and pressure are controlled to cause boron nitride to remain in a cubic boron nitride phase. Afterwards, the plurality of etched cubic boron nitride particles is recovered from the compressed mixture to form the particle population. Preferably, the particle population contains no hexagonal boron nitride.