A refractory object may include a zircon body that is intentionally doped with a dopant including an alkaline earth element and aluminum. The refractory object can have an improved creep deformation rate. In an embodiment, the refractory object can have a creep deformation rate of not greater than about 1.8 E-5 h.sup.−1 at a temperature of 1350° C. and a stress of 2 MPa. In another embodiment, the zircon body may include an amorphous phase including an alkaline earth metal element.

A nano-inorganic composition according to an embodiment of the present disclosure includes and is not limited to excellent mechanical characteristics such as surface hardness and wear characteristics, chemical stability such as water resistance, acid resistance, and alkali resistance, and excellent thermal stability, as the composition is comprised of inorganic materials. In addition, the nano-inorganic composition may be controlled to have super-hydrophilic, hydrophilic, or hydrophobic properties, depending on coating methods. The nano-inorganic composition also has excellent surface contamination resistance and easy-clean properties depending on the characteristics of the thin film coating. Also, the nano-inorganic composition has excellent optical properties such as light transmittance and light reflectance.

A porous material includes an aggregate, and a binding material that binds the aggregate together in a state where pores are formed. The porous material contains 0.1 to 10.0 mass % of an MgO component, 0.5 to 25.0 mass % of an Al.sub.2O.sub.3 component, and 5.0 to 45.0 mass % of an SiO.sub.2 component with respect to the mass of the whole porous material, and further contains 0.01 to 5.5 mass % of an Sr component in terms of SrO.

A multilayer ceramic capacitor include: a ceramic body including first and second surfaces opposing each other and third and fourth surfaces connecting the first and second surfaces; a plurality of internal electrodes disposed inside the ceramic body and exposed to the first and second surfaces, the plurality internal electrodes each having one end exposed to the third or fourth surface; and first and second side margin portions disposed on sides of the internal electrodes exposed to the first and second surfaces. A dielectric composition of the first and second side margin portions is different from a dielectric composition of the ceramic body, and a dielectric constant of the first and second side margin portions is lower than a dielectric constant of the ceramic body.

One aspect of the present invention is a composite including: a porous boron nitride sintered body; and a resin filled in pores of the boron nitride sintered body, wherein the boron nitride sintered body has an average pore diameter of 3.5 μm or less.

The invention relates to a method for preparing synthetic mineral particles with formula (Al.sub.yM.sub.1-y).sub.2(Si.sub.xGe.sub.1-x).sub.2O.sub.5(OH).sub.4, wherein M designates at least one trivalent metal selected from the group made up of gallium and the rare earths, which comprises the following steps: preparing a gel which is a precursor of said synthetic mineral particles by a co-precipitation reaction of at least one salt of metal selected among aluminium and M with at least one silicon source selected from the group made up of potassium metasilicate, sodium metasilicate, potassium metagermanate and sodium metagermanate, the molar ratio of (Al.sub.yM.sub.1-y) to (Si.sub.xGe.sub.1-x) during the preparation of said precursor gel being equal to 1, at least one base being added during said co-precipitation reaction; and performing a solvothermal treatment of said precursor gel at a temperature of 250° C. to 600° C.

A lead-free lithium doped potassium sodium niobate piezoelectric ceramic material in powdered form and having a single crystalline phase and uses thereof are described. Methods of making the said piezoelectric ceramic material are also described.

The present invention relates to an alumina fiber having the content of sodium oxide of 530 to 3,200 ppm and a mass ratio (A/B) of the content (A) of the sodium oxide to the content (B) of calcium oxide of 5 to 116.

A method of forming a polyolefin-perovskite nanomaterial composite which contains oriented electrically and thermally conductive pathways. The method involves milling a polyolefin with particles of a perovskite nanomaterial, molding to forma composite plate, and subjecting the composite plate to an AC voltage. The AC voltage forms oriented electrically and thermally conductive pathways by partial dielectric breakdown of the composite. The presence of the oriented electrically and thermally conductive pathways gives the polyolefin-perovskite nanomaterial electrical and thermal conductivity and dielectric permittivity higher than the polyolefin alone.

Provided is at least one of a zirconia sintered body and a method for producing the same. The zirconia sintered body can be used in a wide range of applications compared with ceramic joined bodies of the related art that include transparent zirconia. A zirconia sintered body includes a transparent zirconia portion and an opaque zirconia portion, wherein the zirconia sintered body has a biaxial flexural strength of greater than or equal to 300 MPa.