Disclosed is a composition having nanoparticles or particles of a refractory metal, a refractory metal hydride, a refractory metal carbide, a refractory metal nitride, or a refractory metal boride, an organic compound consisting of carbon and hydrogen, and a nitrogenous compound consisting of carbon, nitrogen, and hydrogen. The composition, optionally containing the nitrogenous compound, is milled, cured to form a thermoset, compacted into a geometric shape, and heated in a nitrogen atmosphere at a temperature that forms a nanoparticle composition comprising nanoparticles of metal nitride and optionally metal carbide. The nanoparticles have a uniform distribution of the nitride or carbide.

The invention relates to an item made of a material consisting of a plurality of ceramic phases, said material including: a majority ceramic phase comprising nitrides and/or carbonitrides of one or more element(s) selected from among Ti, Zr, Hf, V, Nb, and Ta, said majority ceramic phase being present in a percentage by weight comprised between 60 and 98%, at least one minority ceramic phase, with either one single minority ceramic phase formed of zirconium and/or aluminium silicide, or several minority ceramic phases formed respectively of carbides of one or more element(s) selected from among Ti, Zr, Hf, V, Nb, Ta, Cr, Mo and W and of zirconium oxides and/or aluminium oxides, said at least one minority ceramic phase being present in its entirety in a percentage by weight comprised between 2 and 40%.

The present invention also relates to the method for manufacturing this item.

This invention provides resin formulations which may be used for 3D printing and pyrolyzing to produce a ceramic matrix composite. The resin formulations contain a solid-phase filler, to provide high thermal stability and mechanical strength (e.g., fracture toughness) in the final ceramic material. The invention provides direct, free-form 3D printing of a preceramic polymer loaded with a solid-phase filler, followed by converting the preceramic polymer to a 3D-printed ceramic matrix composite with potentially complex 3D shapes or in the form of large parts. Other variations provide active solid-phase functional additives as solid-phase fillers, to perform or enhance at least one chemical, physical, mechanical, or electrical function within the ceramic structure as it is being formed as well as in the final structure. Solid-phase functional additives actively improve the final ceramic structure through one or more changes actively induced by the additives during pyrolysis or other thermal treatment.

Disclosed are a high-entropy nitride ceramic fiber, and a preparation method and use thereof. The high-entropy ceramic fiber comprises Ti, Hf, Ta, Nb, and Mo; the high-entropy nitride ceramic fiber presents single crystal phase, and each of the elements are uniformly distributed at molecular level. The preparation method of the high-entropy ceramic fiber comprises: mixing a high-entropy ceramic precursor comprising the target metal elements, a spinning aid, and a solvent uniformly to prepare a precursor spinning solution, followed by working procedures of spinning, pyrolyzation, and nitriding to prepare the high-entropy nitride ceramic fiber. The high-entropy nitride ceramic fiber can be used in photocatalysis process of carbon dioxide to prepare methane.

A sintered material has 3% by volume or more and 80% by volume or less of cubic boron nitride grains and a binder. The binder contains: one or more types selected from the group consisting of one or more compounds composed of one or more first elements selected from the group consisting of a group 4 element, a group 5 element, a group 6 element, Al and Si and one or more second elements selected from the group consisting of C, N, O and B, and a solid solution of these compounds; and one or more metallic elements selected from the group consisting of Li, Ca, Na, Sr, Ba and Be. The binder contains the one or more metallic elements of 0.001% by mass or more and 0.5% by mass or less in total, and oxygen of 0.1% by mass or more and 10.0% by mass or less.

This invention relates to three-dimensional printing. This invention in particularly relates to a method of fabricating a three-dimensional object using a support edifice and also using a mold material with structural additives. The support edifice is fabricated in the same crafting material as the final three-dimensional object in the same manner as the printing of the final three-dimensional object (mold and crafting in a layer by layer manner). This method enables the support edifice to also transform during post processing in the same manner as the final three-dimensional object, thus supporting the object until finished. The system for fabricating the object comprises a dual printhead comprising a first dispensing nozzle for depositing the filament material in a flowable fluid form and a second dispensing nozzle for depositing the crafting medium, which is in a paste form. The printhead can also include a heating system or a drying apparatus. The three-dimensional imaging process for making objects, preferably metal objects or ceramic objects, on a layer-by-layer basis under the control of a data processing system is disclosed. The printing of the three-dimensional object such as heavy objects or an object having different parts having a very thin gap or space. It is important to use different processing steps and/or material to print such three-dimensional objects. The present invention provides a solution by printing a support edifice comprising a special structural additive for the mold, and further the support edifice can be printed simultaneously while printing the mold and crafting-paste material on a layer-by-layer basis. The mold material is mixed with the structural additive. The structural additive is useful for prohibiting either fusing of the object with the support edifice, or in alternative embodiments, the fusing of one part of an object with another part of an object.

This invention provides resin formulations which may be used for 3D printing and pyrolyzing to produce a ceramic matrix composite. The resin formulations contain a solid-phase filler, to provide high thermal stability and mechanical strength (e.g., fracture toughness) in the final ceramic material. The invention provides direct, free-form 3D printing of a preceramic polymer loaded with a solid-phase filler, followed by converting the preceramic polymer to a 3D-printed ceramic matrix composite with potentially complex 3D shapes or in the form of large parts. Other variations provide active solid-phase functional additives as solid-phase fillers, to perform or enhance at least one chemical, physical, mechanical, or electrical function within the ceramic structure as it is being formed as well as in the final structure. Solid-phase functional additives actively improve the final ceramic structure through one or more changes actively induced by the additives during pyrolysis or other thermal treatment.

This invention provides resin formulations which may be used for 3D printing and pyrolyzing to produce a ceramic matrix composite. The resin formulations contain a solid-phase filler, to provide high thermal stability and mechanical strength (e.g., fracture toughness) in the final ceramic material. The invention provides direct, free-form 3D printing of a preceramic polymer loaded with a solid-phase filler, followed by converting the preceramic polymer to a 3D-printed ceramic matrix composite with potentially complex 3D shapes or in the form of large parts. Other variations provide active solid-phase functional additives as solid-phase fillers, to perform or enhance at least one chemical, physical, mechanical, or electrical function within the ceramic structure as it is being formed as well as in the final structure. Solid-phase functional additives actively improve the final ceramic structure through one or more changes actively induced by the additives during pyrolysis or other thermal treatment.

The disclosed methods and apparatus improve the fabrication of solid fibers and microstructures. In many embodiments, the fabrication is from gaseous, solid, semi-solid, liquid, critical, and supercritical mixtures using one or more low molar mass precursor(s), in combination with one or more high molar mass precursor(s). The methods and systems generally employ the thermal diffusion/Soret effect to concentrate the low molar mass precursor at a reaction zone, where the presence of the high molar mass precursor contributes to this concentration, and may also contribute to the reaction and insulate the reaction zone, thereby achieving higher fiber growth rates and/or reduced energy/heat expenditures together with reduced homogeneous nucleation. In some embodiments, the invention also relates to the permanent or semi-permanent recording and/or reading of information on or within fabricated fibers and microstructures. In some embodiments, the invention also relates to the fabrication of certain functionally-shaped fibers and microstructures. In some embodiments, the invention may also utilize laser beam profiling to enhance fiber and microstructure fabrication.

The sintered material includes a powder-derived material containing one or both of a nitride and an oxynitride, each of which contains at least one first metal element selected from the group consisting of group 4 elements, group 5 elements and group 6 elements in the periodic table, the rate y1/x1 of the atomic ratio y1 of non-metal element atoms in the powder-derived material to the atomic ratio x1 of metal element atoms therein is greater than 1, and the powder-derived material has a cubic structure.