Focus is on zinc oxide itself, which is a base material for a zinc oxide varistor (laminated varistor), wherein specified quantities of additives are added to a zinc oxide powder having a crystallite size of 20 to 50 nm, grain diameter of 15 to 60 nm found using the specific surface area BET method, untamped density of 0.38 to 0.50 g/cm.sup.3, and tap density of 0.50 to 1.00 g/cm.sup.3. This allows securing of uniformity, high compactness, and high electrical conductivity of a zinc oxide sintered body, and provision of a zinc oxide varistor having high surge resistance.

A ferrite sintered body of the invention includes; a main component including 48.65 to 49.45 mol % of iron oxide in terms of Fe.sub.2O.sub.3, 2 to 16 mol % of copper oxide in terms of CuO, 28.00 to 33.00 mol % of zinc oxide in terms of ZnO, and a balance including nickel oxide, and a subcomponent including boron oxide in an amount of 5 to 100 ppm in terms of B.sub.2O.sub.3 with respect to 100 parts by weight of the main component, in which the ferrite sintered body includes crystal grains having an average crystal grain size of 2 to 30 μm.

An oriented apatite-type oxide ion conductor includes a composite oxide expressed as A.sub.9.33+x[T.sub.6.00−yM.sub.y]O.sub.26.0+z, where A represents one or two or more elements selected from the group consisting of La, Ce, Pr, Nd, Sm, Eu, Gd, Tb, Dy, Be, Mg, Ca, Sr, and Ba, T represents an element including Si or Ge or both, and M represents one or two or more elements selected from the group consisting of B, Ge, Zn, Sn, W, and Mo, and where x is from −1.00 to 1.00, y is from 0.40 to less than 1.00, and z is from −3.00 to 2.00.

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.

A composite member includes a matrix part including an inorganic substance, and an organic infrared absorbing material present in a dispersed state inside the matrix part. The composite member has a porosity of 20% or less in a section of the matrix part. A heat generation device includes the composite member, and an infrared light source for irradiating the composite member with infrared rays. A building member and a light emitting device each include the composite member, or the heat generation device.

A multilayer electronic component includes a body including a plurality of dielectric layers, wherein, wherein a central portion of the capacitance formation portion is Aa, a boundary portion of the capacitance formation portion, adjacent to the cover portions, is Ab, a dielectric grain size corresponding to the top 50% of dielectric grains, in order of enlargement, from the smallest grain size, among a plurality of dielectric grains included in Aa, is D50a, and a dielectric grain size corresponding to the top 50% of dielectric grains, in order of enlargement, from the smallest grain size, among a plurality of dielectric grains included in Ab, is D50b, D50a satisfies 190 nm or less and D50b satisfies 120 nm or greater.

A ceramic sintered body of the present disclosure contains zirconia as a main component, includes a plurality of sintered body crystals and a grain boundary part located between the plurality of sintered body crystals, contains at least CeO.sub.2, and has a content of Ce higher in the grain boundary than in a central region of the sintered body crystal.

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.

The inventive concept relates to a complex for detecting gas responsive to gas to be tested. The complex for the detecting the gas contains a nanostructure made of an oxide semiconductor, and a Terbium (Tb) additive supported on the nanostructure.

A method of manufacturing a sputtering target includes the steps of providing a backing structure, providing target material comprising ceramic target material for spraying, subsequently thermal spraying the target material over the backing structure thus providing a target product where at least 40% in mass, for example at least 50% in mass, of the target material including a ceramic target material, and subsequently performing hot isostatic pressing on the target product thus increasing the density of the target material.