A ferrite composition is provided containing Ba, Co, and Ir and having a Z-type hexaferrite phase and a Y-type hexaferrite phase. The ferrite composition has the formula Ba.sub.3Co.sub.(2+x)Ir.sub.xFe.sub.(24-2x)O.sub.41 where x=0.05-0.20. The composition has equal or substantially equal values of permeability and permittivity while retaining low magnetic and dielectric loss factors. The composition is suitable for ultrahigh frequency applications such as high frequency and microwave antennas.

A grain-oriented M-type hexagonal ferrite has the formula MeFe.sub.12O.sub.19, and a dopant effective to provide planar magnetic anisotropy and magnetization in a c-plane, or a cone anisotropy, in the hexagonal crystallographic structure wherein Me is Sr.sup.+, Ba.sup.2+ or Pb.sup.2+, and wherein greater than 30%, preferably greater than 80%, of c-axes of the ferrite grains are aligned perpendicular to the c-plane.

Method for the manufacture of a hydrogen-permeable membrane having a thickness of not greater than 30 m. The method includes plasma spraying at least one dense layer on a porous substrate such that during the plasma spraying, one sweep of a process beam deposits material particles over the substrate in a form of individual splats which do not produce a cohesive layer and said material particles include a proton-conducting ceramic material and an electron-conducting metallic component. The plasma spraying is LPPS-TF that utilizes a spraying distance of between 200 mm and 2000 mm, a sprayable powder starting material having a particle size range between 1 and 80 m and containing the proton-conducting ceramic material and the electron-conducting metallic component and a process beam dispersing the sprayable powder starting material to a cloud.

A composite structure including a conductor region that is configured from a first oxide, and an insulator region that is configured from a second oxide and that surrounds the conductor region, wherein the first oxide and the second oxide are in hetero structure with each other. A powder and a fired body each having such a composite structure are also preferable.

Provided are a MnZnO sputtering target that can be used for DC sputtering and a production method therefor. The MnZnO sputtering target has a chemical composition containing Mn, Zn, O, and an element X (X is one or two elements selected from the group consisting of W and Mo). A surface to be sputtered of the target has an arithmetic mean roughness Ra of 1.5 ?m or less or a maximum height Ry of 10 ?m or less.

Thermal barrier coatings, which may be used in gas turbine engines, comprise or consist of a tantala-niobia-zirconia mixture that is stabilized with two or more stabilizers. An exemplary thermal barrier coating comprises or consists of, by mole percent: about 2% to about 30% YO.sub.1.5; about 8% to about 30% YbO.sub.1.5 or GdO.sub.1.5 or combination thereof; about 6% to about 30% TaO.sub.2.5; about 0.1% to about 10% NbO.sub.2.5; about 0% to about 10% HfO.sub.2; and a balance of ZrO.sub.2.

A superconducting composition of matter including overlapping first and second regions. The regions comprise unit cells of a solid, the first region comprises an electrical insulator or semiconductor, and the second region comprises a metallic electrical conductor. The second region extends through the solid and a subset of said second region comprise surface metal unit cells that are adjacent to at least one unit cell from the first region. The ratio of the number of said surface metal unit cells to the total number of unit cells in the second region being at least 20 percent.

Disclosed herein are doped perovskite oxides. The doped perovskite oxides may be used as a cathode material in an electrochemical cell to electrochemically generate ammonia from N.sub.2. The doped perovskite oxides may be combined with nitride compounds, for instance iron nitride, to further increase the efficiency of the ammonia production.

A superconducting material having a strong magnetic-flux pinning by way of sites having high electronic effective mass and charge carrier density. The superconducting material involves a superconducting host material and a dopant pinning material being inert in relation to the superconducting host material and has a {square root over ()}/m* in a range less than that of the superconducting host material, the dopant pinning material doping the superconducting host material.

A method is described of producing a catalyst-containing composite oxygen ion membrane and a catalyst-containing composite oxygen ion membrane in which a porous fuel oxidation layer and a dense separation layer and optionally, a porous surface exchange layer are formed on a porous support from mixtures of (Ln.sub.1?xA.sub.x).sub.wCr.sub.1?yB.sub.yO.sub.3?? and a doped zirconia. Adding certain catalyst metals into the fuel oxidation layer not only enhances the initial oxygen flux, but also reduces the degradation rate of the oxygen flux over long-term operation. One of the possible reasons for the improved flux and stability is that the addition of the catalyst metal reduces the chemical reaction between the (Ln.sub.1?xA.sub.x).sub.wCr.sub.1?yB.sub.yO.sub.3?? and the zirconia phases during membrane fabrication and operation, as indicated by the X-ray diffraction results.