Methods of producing silicon carbide, and other metal carbide materials. The method comprises reacting a carbon material (e.g., fibers, or nanoparticles, such as powder, platelet, foam, nanofiber, nanorod, nanotube, whisker, graphene (e.g., graphite), fullerene, or hydrocarbon) and a metal or metal oxide source material (e.g., in gaseous form) in a reaction chamber at an elevated temperature ranging up to approximately 2400° C. or more, depending on the particular metal or metal oxide, and the desired metal carbide being produced. A partial pressure of oxygen in the reaction chamber is maintained at less than approximately 1.01×10.sup.2 Pascal, and overall pressure is maintained at approximately 1 atm.

A ceramic particle includes a core and a modification layer. The core is made of magnesium or a magnesium alloy. The core has a diameter of 30-100 μm. The modification layer covers an outer surface of the core. The modification layer includes calcium and phosphorus. A method for producing a ceramic particle includes providing a core made of magnesium or a magnesium alloy and having a diameter of 30-100 μm. A calcium salt and a phosphorus salt are dissolved in a solvent. A chelating agent is added into the solvent to form a modifying solution. The core is added into the modifying solution to form a modification layer on an outer surface of the core in a temperature range of 5-40° C. The modification layer includes calcium and phosphorus.

A method of making magnetizable abrasive particles includes: moistening the outer surfaces of ceramic particles with waterglass to provide moistened ceramic particles. Magnetizable particles are contacted with the moistened ceramic particles to provide powder-coated ceramic particles. The powder-coated ceramic particles are heated to at least a temperature sufficient to bond the magnetizable particles of the powder-coated ceramic particles to the respective ceramic particles thereby providing the magnetizable abrasive particles. On a respective basis, each magnetizable abrasive particle comprises a respective ceramic particle having a magnetizable particles bonded thereto.

A method of making a ceramic composite component includes providing a fibrous preform or a plurality of fibers, providing a first plurality of particles, coating the first plurality of particles with a coating to produce a first plurality of coated particles, delivering the first plurality of coated particles to the fibrous preform or to an outer surface of the plurality of fibers, and converting the first plurality of coated particles into refractory compounds. The first plurality of particles or the coating comprises a refractory metal.

The invention relates to nickel-coated hexagonal boron nitride nanosheet composite powder, its preparation and high-performance composite ceramic cutting tool material. The composite powder has a core-shell structure with BNNS as the core and Ni as the shell. The self-lubricating ceramic cutting tool material is prepared by wet ball milling mixing and vacuum hot-pressing sintering with a phase alumina as the matrix, tungsten-titanium carbide as the reinforcing phase, nickel-coated hexagonal boron nitride nanosheet composite powder as the solid lubricant and magnesium oxide and yttrium oxide as the sintering aids. The invention also provides preparation methods of the nickel-coated hexagonal boron nitride nanosheet composite powder and the self-lubricating ceramic cutting tool material.

A surface-treated ceramic powder includes a plurality of ceramic particles and a surface-treating material. Each of the ceramic particles is at least partially coated by the surface-treating material, wherein the ceramic particles have an average particle diameter ranging from 10 micrometer (m) to 100 m, and the surface-treating material is made of metal, metal oxide or the combination thereof.

The present invention pertains to high-strength/high-ductility alloys, and in particular, provides high-strength composite particles comprising a ceramic phase and a metal phase, a composite powder, a method for manufacturing composite particles, and a method for manufacturing a composite member. Composite particles including a ceramic phase and a metal phase, wherein the composite particles are characterized in that the porosity is no greater than 45% in area ratio in cross-section, and the area ratio of the metal phase, where the total area of the ceramic phase and the metal phase is 100%, is at least 20%. A composite powder characterized in including a plurality of the composite particles.

The present invention provides a method for producing a zirconia particle-containing powder that enables easy production of a zirconia sintered body having both high translucency and high strength. The present invention relates to a method for producing a zirconia particle-containing powder, comprising a drying step of spray drying a slurry containing zirconia particles, wherein the zirconia particles have an average primary particle diameter of 30 nm or less, and the slurry comprises a dispersion medium containing a liquid having a surface tension at 25 C. of 50 mN/m or less. Preferably, the zirconia particles comprise 2.0 to 9.0 mol % yttria. Preferably, wherein the content of the liquid in the dispersion medium is 50 mass % or more.

Conventional sintering processes convert a portion of cBN to hBN which is softer than cBN which negatively affects functional properties of an alumina composite. The invention is directed to method for making an alumina-cubic boron nitride (Al.sub.2O.sub.3-cBN) composite that contains substantially no hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) by non-conventional spark plasma sintering of cBN with nano-sized alumina particles. The invention is also directed to Al.sub.2O.sub.3-cBN/Ni composites, which contain substantially no hBN, and which exhibit superior physical and mechanical properties compared to alumina composites containing higher amounts of hBN.

A method of making a ceramic composite component includes providing a fibrous preform or a plurality of fibers, providing a first plurality of particles, coating the first plurality of particles with a coating to produce a first plurality of coated particles, delivering the first plurality of coated particles to the fibrous preform or to an outer surface of the plurality of fibers, and converting the first plurality of coated particles into refractory compounds. The first plurality of particles or the coating comprises a refractory metal.