A sintered composite ceramic, including: a lithium-garnet major phase; and a lithium-rich minor phase, such that the lithium-rich minor phase comprises Li.sub.xZrO.sub.(x+4)/2, with 2≤x≤10.

A process for providing fluoresence to a dental ceramic body by treating at least a portion of the outer surface of the dental ceramic body or a precursor thereof with a bismuth containing substance, characterized by the steps of placing the dental ceramic body or the precursor thereof into a closeable container, in particular a crucible; generating a bismuth containing atmosphere in the container and exposing at least a portion of the outer surface of the dental ceramic body or of the precursor to the bismuth containing atmosphere at a temperature above 1000° C.

Disclosed is a solid state electrolyte comprising a compound of Formula 1
Li.sub.7−a*α−(b−4)*β−xM.sup.a.sub.αLa.sub.3Hf.sub.2−βM.sup.b.sub.βO.sub.12−x−δX.sub.x  (1)
wherein M.sup.a is a cationic element having a valence of a+; M.sup.b is a cationic element having a valence of b+; and X is an anion having a valence of −1, wherein, when M.sup.a includes H, 0≤α≤5, otherwise 0≤α≤0.75, and wherein 0≤β≤1.5, 0≤x≤1.5, and (a*α+(b−4)β+x)>0, 0≤δ≤1.

An LLZ oxide may be a garnet-type oxide that contains Li, La, Zr and O as main constituent elements, and further contains substituent elements such as Zn in addition to the main constituent elements. The substituent elements may contain Bi, Nb, Hf and the like in addition to Zn. The LLZ-type oxide may be used, for example, as a solid electrolyte for an all-solid-state lithium ion secondary battery. The all-solid-state lithium ion secondary battery includes a positive electrode, a negative electrode, and a solid electrolyte layer that is disposed between the positive electrode and the negative electrode.

The present invention is directed to a porous pre-densified CeO.sub.2-stabilized ZrO.sub.2 ceramic having a density of 50.0 to 95.0%, relative to the theoretical density of zirconia, and an open porosity of 5 to 50% as well as to a densified CeO.sub.2-stabilized ZrO.sub.2 ceramic having a density of 97.0 to 100.0%, relative to the theoretical density of zirconia, and wherein the grains of the ceramic have an average grain size of 50 to 1000 nm, methods for the preparation of the pre-densified and densified ceramics and their use for the manufacture of dental restorations.

A method of infiltrating a fiber preform comprises positioning an assembly in a process chamber, where the assembly includes a tool comprising through-holes, a fiber preform constrained within the tool, and a sacrificial preform disposed between the fiber preform and the tool. The sacrificial preform is gas permeable. The process chamber is heated, and gaseous reactants are delivered into the process chamber during the heating. The gaseous reactants penetrate the through-holes of the tool and infiltrate the sacrificial preform and the fiber preform. Deposition of reaction products occurs on exposed surfaces of the fiber preform and the sacrificial preform, and a coating is formed thereon. In addition, the sacrificial preform accumulates excess coating material formed from increased reactions at short diffusion depths. Accordingly, the coating formed on the fiber preform exhibits a thickness variation of about 10% or less throughout a volume of the fiber preform.

[OBJECTS] An object of the present invention is to provide a lithium-ion-conductive ceramic material having a target ion conductivity, while suppressing production cost. Another object is to provide a high-performance lithium battery, while suppressing production cost, by virtue of having the lithium-ion-conductive ceramic material. The lithium-ion-conductive ceramic material contains Li, La, and Zr, as well as at least one of Mg and A (wherein A represents at least one element selected from the group consisting of Ca, Sr, and Ba) and which has a garnet-type crystal structure, wherein the elements contained in the ceramic material satisfy the following mole ratio conditions (1) to (3): (1) 1.33≤Li/(La+A)≤3; (2) 0<Mg/(La+A)≤0.5; and (3) 0<A/(La+A)≤0.67, and a lithium battery employing the ceramic material.

A method of making a scintillator material includes forming a dried ceramic composition into a ceramic body with a garnet crystal formula (Gd.sub.3-x-zY.sub.x)Ce.sub.z(Ga.sub.5-yAl.sub.y)O.sub.12, where x is about 0 to about 2, y is about 0 to about 5, and z is about 0.001 to about 1.0. The ceramic body is sintered to form a sintered ceramic body. The sintered ceramic body is surrounded by a powder mixture that includes a garnet powder. The density of the sintered ceramic body is increased by applying an increased temperature and isostatic pressure to form the scintillator material.

A moldable green-body composite includes milling silicon nitride powder with a solvent and adding a surface modifier to the milled slurry to modify a surface of the silicon nitride particles. A polysiloxane in a solvent and a binder are also added to create a green body slurry. The solvents may be polar or non-polar solvents. A sintering aid, such as yttria-alumina, may be added to the slurry as well. A reduced density silicon nitride ceramic is made from the moldable green-body composite by molding the moldable green-body composite in a mold and curing at a curing temperature to convert the moldable green-body composite to a converted composite. The converted composite can then be sintered to form a reduced density silicon nitride ceramic that has a smooth surface finish and requires no post machining or polishing. The reduced density silicon nitride ceramic may also have very good dielectric properties.

A polycrystalline ceramic solid and a method for producing a polycrystalline ceramic solid are disclosed. In an embodiment a polycrystalline ceramic solid includes a main phase with a composition of the general formula: (1-y)Pb.sub.a(Mg.sub.bNb.sub.c)O.sub.3-e+yPb.sub.aTi.sub.dO.sub.3 with 0.055y0.065, 0.95a1.02, 0.29b0.36, 0.63c0.69, 0.9d1.1, and 0e0.1, and optionally one or more secondary phases, wherein, in each section through the solid, a proportion of the secondary phases relative to any given cross-sectional area through the solid is less than or equal to 0.5 percent, or wherein the solid is free of the secondary phases.