Disclosed herein are embodiments of modified z-type hexagonal ferrite materials having improved properties that are advantageous for radiofrequency applications, in particular high frequency ranges for antennas and other devices. Atomic substitution of strontium, aluminum, potassium, and trivalent ions can be used to replace certain atoms in the ferrite crystal structure to improve loss factor at high frequencies.

A ceramic sintered body containing aluminum oxide, tungsten carbide and zirconium oxide, wherein: the zirconium oxide contains ZrO and ZrO.sub.2; the ZrO.sub.2 has a crystal structure or structures of one or two kinds selected from the group consisting of a tetragonal crystal structure and a cubic crystal structure; and when, in X-ray diffraction, regarding a peak intensity for a (111) plane of the ZrO as being denoted by I.sub.1, regarding a peak intensity for a (101) plane of ZrO.sub.2 having a tetragonal crystal structure as being denoted by I.sub.2t, and also regarding a peak intensity for a (111) plane of ZrO.sub.2 having a cubic crystal structure as being denoted by I.sub.2c, a ratio of I.sub.1 based on a total of I.sub.1, I.sub.2t and I.sub.2c [I.sub.1/(I.sub.1+I.sub.2t+I.sub.2c)] is from 0.05 or more to 0.90 or less.

A composite ceramic including: a lithium garnet major phase; and a grain growth inhibitor minor phase, as defined herein. Also disclosed is a method of making composite ceramic, pellets and tapes thereof, a solid electrolyte, and an electrochemical device including the solid electrolyte, as defined herein.

A composite sintered body is a ceramic composite sintered body which includes metal oxide which is a main phase, and silicon carbide which is a sub-phase, in which crystal grains of the silicon carbide are dispersed in crystal grains of the metal oxide and at crystal grain boundaries of the metal oxide, and a proportion of the crystal grains of the silicon carbide dispersed in the crystal grains of the metal oxide is 25% or more in an area ratio with respect to a total crystal grains of the silicon carbide.

A composite material having a grainy appearance, this composite material including a metal matrix which represents, in terms of volume fraction, between 50 and 95% of the grainy composite material, the ceramic particles having a diameter that lies in the range 0.1 to 2 mm and which represent, in terms of volume fraction, between 50 and 5% of the composite material are dispersed in the metal matrix and form the remainder of this grainy composite material. A method for manufacturing a grainy synthetic material.

A method for continuously forming a three-dimensional body from a mixture, the mixture comprising at least 15 vol % solid particles and a radiation curable material. The method allows the continuous production of three-dimensional bodies comprising to a high content ceramic particles at a forming speed of at least 25 mm/hour.

Provided are a method of manufacturing a ceramic article in which the improvement of mechanical strength, wear resistance, and machinability is achieved using a direct modeling system, and a ceramic article. The manufacturing method includes the steps of: (i) arranging powder containing ceramics as a main component on a base; (ii) irradiating a part or an entirety of the arranged powder with an energy beam to melt and solidify the powder, to thereby obtain an intermediate modeled article; (iii) causing the modeled article to absorb a metal component-containing liquid to impregnate the modeled article therewith; and (iv) subjecting the modeled article having absorbed the metal component-containing liquid to heat treatment.

Use, as a milling agent for milling a suspension, wet dispersing agent or for surface treatment, of a powder comprising more than 90% by mass of sintered balls, each sintered ball having: a chemical composition such that, in percentages by mass based on the mass of the ball: 89%?W?97%; 5%?C?8%; Co?0.5%; Ni?0.5%; Elements other than W, C, Co, and Ni, or Other elements: ?3%; a tungsten carbide(s) content greater than 55% in percentage by mass based on the crystallized phases; a bulk density greater than or equal to 14 g/cm.sup.3.

An oxide-sintered-body sputtering target according to an embodiment of the present invention is formed of a sintered body containing an indium oxide, a zinc oxide, a titanium oxide, and a zirconium oxide, an atomic ratio of titanium with respect to a sum of indium, zinc, and titanium being not less than 0.1% and not more than 20%, a weight ratio of zirconium with respect to a sum of the indium oxide, the zinc oxide, the titanium oxide, and the zirconium oxide being not less than 10 ppm and not more than 2,000 ppm.

A silicide-based composite material is disclosed, comprising a silicide of Mo, B, W, Nb, Ta, Ti, Cr, Co, Y, or a combination thereof, Si3N4, and at least an oxide, as well as and a process for producing the same.