Solar reflective roofing granules include a binder and inert mineral particles, with solar reflective particles dispersed in the binder. An agglomeration process preferentially disposes the solar reflective particles at a desired depth within or beneath the surface of the granules.

A composition which can be photopolymerized to make a part consisting of an oxide ceramic, or a hybrid part comprising at least one oxide ceramic and organic constituents, by a stereolithographic technique, the composition comprising: at least one photopolymerizable organic compound; at least one photo-initiator; at least one precursor of the oxide ceramic wherein the composition comprises from 25% to 70% by mass, relative to the total mass of the composition, of the at least one precursor of the oxide ceramic; and wherein the at least one precursor of the oxide ceramic comprises a mixture comprising a nanometric powder of the oxide ceramic, and at least one other element selected from a micrometric powder of the oxide ceramic and a pre-ceramic compound of the oxide ceramic.

A substrate for mounting a light-emitting element according to the present disclosure contains a crystal particle of aluminum oxide and is composed of an alumina-based ceramic that contains 97% by mass or more of Al as a value of an Al.sub.2O.sub.3 equivalent among 100% by mass of all components thereof. An average value of an equivalent circle diameter of the crystal particle is 1.1 μm or greater and 1.8 μm or less and a standard deviation of an equivalent circle diameter thereof is 0.6 μm or greater and 1.4 μm or less.

The invention relates to a porous zirconia article in particular for use in the dental or orthodontic field, the porous zirconia article comprising ZrO.sub.2: 80 to 87 wt. %, Y.sub.2O.sub.3: 3 to 5 wt. %, Al.sub.2O.sub.3: 10 to 14 wt. %, wt. % with respect to the weight of the porous zirconia article, the porous zirconia article being characterized by a BET surface from 15 to 100 m.sup.2/g. The invention also relates to a sintered zirconia article in particular for use in the dental or orthodontic field, the sintered zirconia article comprising ZrO.sub.2: 80 to 87 wt. %, Y.sub.2O.sub.3: 3 to 5 wt. %, Al.sub.2O.sub.3: 10 to 14 wt. %, wt. % with respect to the weight of the porous zirconia article, the sintered zirconia article being characterized by a corundum crystal phase content of 7 to 12 wt. % and a flexural strength of at least 2,000 MPa.

This invention relates to a ceramic composite that may be used for various purposes including for assembly into a therapeutic device for treating a human or animal body with irradiation of nonthermal far infrared (FIR) radiation. More specifically, while all FIR-related prior art is only radiating broadband blackbody thermal radiation, said ceramic composite can emit not only the usual blackbody thermal radiation but also the inventive nonthermal FIR-photon radiation in the 3 - 16 .Math.m wavelength spectrum. As a result, the overall measurable radiation in 8 - 14 .Math.m wavelength range from said ceramic composite has an approximated blackbody temperature that is at least 1° C. higher than the actual temperature of said ceramic composite, signifying an effective emissivity greater than 1.0, while 1.0 emissivity is a theoretical limit assigned to an ideal black body and thus unsurpassable. It is an outcome of adding the 3 - 16 .Math.m band of nonthermal FIR-photon radiation to the continuous 4 - 1,000 .Math.m band of blackbody thermal radiation.

A slurry or slip composed of a dispersion medium and a dispersoid including sinterable raw material powder containing a complex oxide powder represented by the following formula (1):
(Tb.sub.1-x-yR.sub.xSc.sub.y).sub.3(Al.sub.1-zSc.sub.z).sub.5O.sub.12  (1)
wherein R is yttrium and/or lutetium, 0.05≤x<0.45, 0<y<0.1, 0.5<1-x-y<0.95, and 0.004<z<0.2 is prepared; the slurry or slip is subsequently enclosed in a mold container to be subjected to solid-liquid separation by centrifugal casting to mold a cast compact; the cast compact is dried thereafter; a dried compact is degreased; a degreased compact is sintered thereafter; and a sintered body is further subjected to a hot isostatic pressing treatment to obtain the transparent ceramic material composed of the sintered body of garnet-type rare earth complex oxide represented by the formula (1).

A paramagnetic garnet-type transparent ceramic that exhibits a high laser damage threshold, said ceramic being a sintered body of a Tb-containing rare earth-aluminum garnet represented by formula (1), and being characterized in that the average sintered grain size is 10-40 μm, and the insertion loss at a wavelength of 1,064 nm in the optically effective region along the length direction of a 20 mm-long sample is 0.05 dB or less.

(Tb.sub.1-x-yY.sub.xSc.sub.y).sub.3(Al.sub.1-zSc.sub.z).sub.5O.sub.12  Formula (1)

(In the formula, 0≤x<0.45, 0≤y<0.08, 0≤z<0.2, and 0.001<y+z<0.20.)

The present invention relates to a green body, a pre-ceramic body and a ceramic body based on metal oxide particles, in particular zirconium oxide. The present invention also relates to the method of producing said materials and to the use thereof, in particular in the field of dentistry.

A thin film is provided that primarily comprises titanium oxide and includes Ti, Ag and O. The thin film contains 29.6 at % or more and 34.0 at % or less of Ti, 0.003 at % or more and 7.4 at % or less of Ag, and oxygen as the remainder thereof and has a ratio of oxygen to metals, O/(2Ti+0.5Ag), of 0.97 or more. The thin film has a high refractive index and a low extinction coefficient. In addition, the thin film has superior transmittance, minimally deteriorates in reflectance, and is useful as an interference film or a protective film for an optical information recording medium. The film may also be applied to a glass substrate to provide a heat reflective film, an antireflective film, or an interference filter. A method of producing the thin film is also disclosed.

A composition comprises a zirconia powder, in which 55% or more thereof is monoclinic, and a stabilizer capable of suppressing phase transition of zirconia. An average particle diameter of zirconia particles and particles of the stabilizer is 0.06 μm to 0.17 μm. At least a portion of the stabilizer does not form a solid solution with zirconia.