A method for producing a lithium-transition metal composite oxide, including steps of: preparing a mixture including a lithium-containing compound and a transition metal compound; obtaining a molded body of the mixture; and sintering the molded bodies in a container having at least one vent hole, to obtain sintered bodies.

A method of producing polycrystalline Y.sub.3Ba.sub.5Cu.sub.8O.sub.y (Y-358) whereby powders of yttrium (III) oxide, a barium (II) salt, and copper (II) oxide are pelletized, calcined at 850 to 950° C. for 8 to 16 hours, ball milled under controlled conditions, pelletized again and sintered in an oxygen atmosphere at 900 to 1000° C. for up to 72 hours. The polycrystalline Y.sub.3Ba.sub.5Cu.sub.8O.sub.y thus produced is in the form of elongated crystals having an average length of 2 to 10 μm and an average width of 1 to 2 μm, and embedded with spherical nanoparticles of yttrium deficient Y.sub.3Ba.sub.5Cu.sub.8O.sub.y having an average diameter of 5 to 20 nm. The spherical nanoparticles are present as agglomerates having flower-like morphology with an average particles size of 30 to 60 nm. The ball milled polycrystalline Y.sub.3Ba.sub.5Cu.sub.8O.sub.y prepared under controlled conditions shows significant enhancement of superconducting and flux pinning properties.

A hard lead zirconate titanate (PZT) ceramic has an ABO.sub.3 structure with A sites and B sites. The PZT ceramic is doped with Mn and with Nb on the B sites and the ratio Nb/Mn is <2. A piezoelectric multilayer component having such a PZT ceramic and also a method for producing a piezoelectric multilayer component are also disclosed.

A capacitor includes a stack and an external electrode located on a surface of the stack. The stack includes a plurality of dielectric layers and a plurality of internal electrode layers alternately stacked on one another. Crystal grains include first crystal grains having a small grain size and second crystal grains having a larger grain size. The first crystal grains satisfy 0.13 μm≤d1<0.30 μm, where d1 is the grain size of the first crystal grains. The second crystal grains satisfy 0.30 μm≤d2<0.50 μm, where d2 is the grain size of the second crystal grains. The second crystal grains have a higher additive element content than the first crystal grains.

A neuro-bionic device based on a two-dimensional Ti.sub.3C.sub.2 material is provided. The device includes a Pt/Ti/SiO.sub.2/Si substrate, a neuro-bionic layer formed on a Pt film layer of the Pt/Ti/SiO.sub.2/Si substrate, and an Al electrode layer formed on the neuro-bionic layer. The neuro-bionic layer is made of a two-dimensional Ti.sub.3C.sub.2 material. The neuro-bionic device of the present invention is prepared by an evaporating coating method and a drop-coating method. The preparation process is relatively simple. The prepared device can successfully simulate the characteristics of synapse. More importantly, the resistance of the device can be modulated continuously under a scanning of a pulse sequence with pulse width and interval of 10 ns, which is beneficial to the application of the device in the ultrafast synapse simulation.

An alumina/titanium silicon carbide composite material is prepared by making titanium aluminum carbide (Ti.sub.3AlC.sub.2) in uniform contact with silicon monoxide (SiO), and carrying out vacuum sintering. The composite material is obtained through mutual diffusion of aluminum and silicon and has high compactness and stable performance. In the composite material, the alumina is generated by means of a reaction between the titanium aluminum carbide and the silicon monoxide, and can be uniformly wrapped around surfaces of titanium silicon carbide crystals to form a relatively compact oxide film, such that substance exchange between a matrix and the outside is hindered, and overall antioxidation of the composite material is improved. Toughness of the composite material is enhanced by means of the titanium silicon carbide. The prepared composite material has relatively high purity, relatively low sintering temperature, and relatively high bending strength. The process is simple and convenient for industrial production.

Provided is a piezoelectric ceramic composition including a potassium sodium niobate-based perovskite type complex oxide represented by Compositional Formula ABO.sub.3, as a main component. Further, the piezoelectric ceramic composition contains Bi in an A site and Zr in a B site. Further, the piezoelectric ceramic composition includes a segregation portion positioned in a crystal grain. At least one of Zr or Bi is localized in the segregation portion.

A solid composition according to the present disclosure is a solid composition to be used for forming a functional ceramic having a crystal phase, and contains an oxide constituted by a crystal phase different from the crystal phase of the functional ceramic at normal temperature and normal pressure, and an oxoacid compound. The oxoacid compound preferably contains at least one of a nitrate ion and a sulfate ion as an oxoanion. Further, the oxide preferably has a crystal grain size of 10 nm or more and 200 nm or less.

A piezoelectric composition including manganese and a complex oxide having a perovskite structure represented by a general formula ABO.sub.3, wherein an A site element in the ABO.sub.3 is potassium or potassium and sodium, a B site element in the ABO.sub.3 is niobium, a concentration distribution of the manganese has a variation, and the variation shows a CV value of 35% or more and 440% or less.

A lithium battery includes: a positive electrode having a positive active material; a negative electrode including lithium metal; and a solid electrolyte disposed therebetween. The solid electrolyte contains at least one oxide represented by Li.sub.4±xM.sub.1-x′M′.sub.x′O.sub.4 (Formula 1), Li.sub.4-yM″O.sub.4-yA′.sub.y (Formula 2), or Li.sub.4+4zM′″.sub.1-zO.sub.4 (Formula 3), wherein and 0≤x23 1 and 0≤x′≤1, M is a Group 4 element, and M′ is an element of Group 2, 3, 5, 12, or 13, a vacancy, or a combination thereof, with the proviso that when M is Zr, then x≠0, x′≠0 and M′ is Be, Ca, Sr, Ba, Ra, Cd, Hg, Cn, Ga, In, TI, an element of Group 3 or 5, or a combination thereof; 0≤y≤1, M″ is a Group 4 element, and A′ includes at least one halogen, with the proviso that when M″ is Zr, then y≠0; and 0<z<1, and M′″ is a Group 4 element.