A sintered material comprises cubic boron nitride and a first material that is a partially stabilized ZrO.sub.2 with Al.sub.2O.sub.3 dispersed therein at crystal grain boundaries and/or in crystal grains, the sintered material comprising 20% by volume or more and 80% by volume or less of the cubic boron nitride, the sintered material comprising 0.001% by mass or more and 1% by mass or less of nitrogen in the first material when the first material is measured through secondary ion mass spectrometry.

A method and a fugitive mold for producing a cast-metal part are provided. In some embodiments, the fugitive mold may be formed by three-dimensionally (3D) printing a preceramic resin in the shape of a fugitive mold; curing the preceramic resin to form a preceramic polymer, and pyrolyzing the fugitive mold to convert the preceramic polymer to a metastable ceramic material. The metastable ceramic material may include an amorphous silicon oxycarbide ceramic. A cast-metal part may be formed by filling the fugitive mold with a liquid metal or alloy, and allowing the liquid metal or alloy to solidify over a first length of time. The cast-metal part may then be retrieved by heating the fugitive mold at a temperature lower than the melting point of the cast-metal part for a second length of time longer than the first length of time to disintegrate the metastable ceramic material.

The present invention relates generally in part to BeO-based compounds that are capable of storing at least part of the energy of incident ionizing radiation and releasing at least part of the stored energy upon optical stimulation and heating. BeO-based compounds dosimetry was also developed in instrumentation, application and fundamental investigations. The present disclosure further relates the to the investigation of a BeO-based optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dosimeter together with an OSL reader, and discusses the design and operation of an OSL reader, suitable to measure OSL emission of BeO-based dosimeters, for example beryllium oxide doped with sodium, dysprosium and erbium. The present disclosure further relates to the use of BeO-based compounds comprising BeO and at least one dopant selected from the group consisting of sodium, dysprosium and erbium as a fiber-coupled OSL dosimeter.

The present disclosure provides a microwave-assisted carbon template method for preparing supported nano metal-oxides or nano metals. The method includes mixing a carbohydrate, urea, and a precursor of an oxide support with a metal salt in a container, adding a certain amount of water, and completely dissolving the solid chemicals through ultrasonic stirring to form a homogeneous solution. The method also includes performing microwave treatment on the obtained solution for approximately 0.1 minute to 60 minutes with a microwave heating power in a range of approximately 100 W to 50 kW to dehydrate and carbonize the carbohydrate and thus form a dark brown solid. The method further includes performing heat treatment on the dark brown solid at a temperature in a range of approximately 200° C. to 1100° C. in an air atmosphere for approximately 0.5 hour to 24 hours to obtain a metal-oxide supported by a porous oxide support.

The embodiments herein provide a filter for cigarette comprising graphene nano-composite based material enclosed in a casing. The filter is reusable and is plugged to any cigarette, or tobacco smoking products. The filter is a stand-alone product or manufactured integrally with each individual cigarette. The filter provides a safe smoking option to tobacco smokers without changing their smoking habits by reducing the tar content and other toxic chemicals in the inhaled smoke. The graphene based nanocomposite filter adsorbs the toxic agents from the smoke (of cigarette, beedi, hookah etc). The filter is fabricated by treating ceramic particles and coating them with carbon particles. The carbon particles are carbonized. The ceramic particles coated with carbon are segregated based on shape and size and treated chemically to convert carbon into graphene under inert conditions. The graphene coated particles are chemically functionalized for improved filtration.

A sintered material comprises cubic boron nitride and a first material that is a partially stabilized ZrO.sub.2 with Al.sub.2O.sub.3 dispersed therein at crystal grain boundaries and/or in crystal grains, the sintered material comprising 20% by volume or more and 80% by volume or less of the cubic boron nitride, the sintered material comprising 0.001% by mass or more and 1% by mass or less of nitrogen in the first material when the first material is measured through secondary ion mass spectrometry.

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 preparing a lithium-ion conducting garnet via low-temperature solid-state synthesis is disclosed. The lithium-ion conducting garnet comprises a substantially phase pure aluminum-doped cubic lithium lanthanum zirconate (Li.sub.7La.sub.3Zr.sub.2O.sub.14). The method includes preparing nanoparticles comprising lanthanum zirconate (La.sub.2Zr.sub.2O.sub.7-np) via pyrolysis-mediated reaction of lanthanum nitrate (La(NO.sub.3).sub.3) and zirconium nitrate (Zr(NO.sub.3).sub.4). The method also includes pyrolyzing a solid-state mixture comprising the La.sub.2Zr.sub.2O.sub.7-np, lithium nitrate (LiNO.sub.3), and aluminum nitrate (Al(NO.sub.3).sub.3) to give the Li.sub.7La.sub.3Zr.sub.2O.sub.14 and thereby prepare the lithium-ion conducting garnet. A lithium-ion conducting garnet prepared via the method is also disclosed.

A composite article is comprised of coal dust, as defined herein, and a polymer derived ceramic material that is pyrolyzed in a substantially non-oxidizing atmosphere. For example, the composite article may be made of a mixture of the coal dust and polymer derived ceramic, from particles formed of a mixture of coal dust and polymer derived ceramic or from complex particle composites comprising a plurality of particles formed of a mixture of coal dust and polymer derived ceramic.

The present invention relates to a process for the preparation of a ceramic nanowire preform, in particular to a process for the preparation of the ceramic nanowire preform by combining a template technique and a preceramic polymer conversion technique. The process of the present invention uses carbonaceous material as a template, and prepares an isotropic ceramic nanowire preform by controlling the ratio of a precursor to a solvent, the amount of a catalyst and the ratio of a prepared precursor solution to the carbonaceous template, wherein the preform is isotropic and has lower bulk density and higher volume fraction.