A method of making a proppant may include adding a dry ceramic precursor to a granulator, adding a slurry to the granulator, granulating the dry ceramic precursor and the slurry to form densified granules, and firing the densified granules to form a ceramic proppant. The dry ceramic precursor may include an alumina- or aluminosilicate-containing material, such as, for example, at least one of kaolin, ball clay, bauxitic kaolin, smectite clay, bauxite, gibbsite, boehmite, metakaolin, or diaspora. The slurry may include a recycled proppant material, such as, a fired recycled proppant material or a green recycled proppant material.

Included are methods to make ceramic proppants. The methods comprise coating green proppants with at least one reactive alumina or zirconium agent, such as gamma alumina. Also included are green proppants and liquid-phase sintered proppants made with the use of the reactive agent. Further included are uses for these proppants, such as in the oil and gas recovery areas.

The present invention provides a fused product comprising LTM perovskite, L designating lanthanum, T being an element selected from strontium, calcium, magnesium, barium, yttrium, ytterbium, cerium, and mixtures of these elements, and M designating manganese.

Methods for making printed articles from carbon powder are described. Three-dimensional binder jet printing is used to make a printed article from the carbon powder. Methods are also provided for the production of near net shaped carbonized printed articles and graphitized printed articles.

A method of producing a boron nitride polycrystal includes: a first step of obtaining a thermally treated powder by thermally treating a powder of a high pressure phase boron nitride at more than or equal to 1300° C.; and a second step of obtaining a boron nitride polycrystal by sintering the thermally treated powder under a condition of 8 to 20 GPa and 1200 to 2300° C.

A method of manufacturing nuclear fuel elements may include: forming a base portion of the fuel element by depositing a powdered matrix material including a mixture of a graphite material and a fibrous material; depositing particles on the base portion in a predetermined pattern to form a first particle layer, by controlling the position of each particle in the first particle layer; depositing the matrix material on the first particle layer to form a first matrix layer; depositing particles on the first matrix layer in a predetermined pattern to form a second particle layer by controlling positions of each particle in the second particle layer; depositing the matrix material on the second particle layer to form a second matrix layer; and forming a cap portion of the fuel pebble by depositing the matrix material. The particles in the first particle layer and the second particle layer include nuclear fuel particles.

Silicon (Si) based materials and methods of making those materials. More specifically, methods and materials having silicon, oxygen and carbon that form filled and unfilled plastic materials and filled and unfilled ceramics.

A thermally-insulating composite material with co-shrinkage in the form of an insulating material formed by the inclusion of microballoons in a matrix material such that the microballoons and the matrix material exhibit co-shrinkage upon processing. The thermally-insulating composite material can be formed by a variety of microballoon-matrix material combinations such as polymer microballoons in a preceramic matrix material. The matrix materials generally contain fine rigid fillers.

Described are cementitious reagent materials produced from globally abundant inorganic feedstocks. Also described are methods for the manufacture of such cementitious reagent materials and forming the reagent materials as microspheroidal glassy particles. Also described are apparatuses, systems and methods for the thermochemical production of glassy cementitious reagents with spheroidal morphology. The apparatuses, systems and methods makes use of an in-flight melting/quenching technology such that solid particles are flown in suspension, melted in suspension, and then quenched in suspension. The cementitious reagents can be used in concrete to substantially reduce the CO.sub.2 emission associated with cement production.

The present invention relates to granular composite density enhancement, and related methods and compositions. The application where the properties are valuable include but are not limited to: 1) additive manufacturing (“3D printing”) involving metallic, ceramic, cermet, polymer, plastic, or other dry or solvent-suspended powders or gels, 2) concrete materials, 3) solid propellant materials, 4) cermet materials, 5) granular armors, 6) glass-metal and glass-plastic mixtures, and 7) ceramics comprising (or manufactured using) granular composites.