A method for producing an alumina sintered body, comprising: molding an alumina powder to obtain an alumina article, the alumina powder comprising alumina particles having a particle diameter of not less than 0.1 μm and less than 1 μm, and alumina particles having a particle diameter of not less than 1 μm and less than 100 μm; forming a carbon powder-containing layer on a surface of the alumina article to obtain a laminate body; and irradiating a surface of the carbon powder-containing layer of the laminate body with a laser light to form a transparent alumina sintered portion.

A honeycomb structure including: a honeycomb structure body having porous partition walls which define a plurality of cells extending from an inflow end face to an outflow end face to form through channels for a fluid, and a first circumferential wall which is disposed in at least a part of a circumference of the partition walls, and a second circumferential wall disposed to surround an outer side of the honeycomb structure body, wherein the honeycomb structure body does not have an interface between the partition walls and the first circumferential wall, and in a face perpendicular to an extending direction of the cells, a maximum thickness of the first circumferential wall is from 0.1 to 0.3 mm.

Shaped ceramic abrasive particles include a first surface having a perimeter having a perimeter comprising at least first and second edges. A first region of the perimeter includes the second edge and extends inwardly and terminates at two corners defining first and second acute interior angles. The perimeter has at most four corners that define acute interior angles. A second surface is disposed opposite, and not contacting, the first surface. A peripheral surface is disposed between and connects the first and second surfaces. The peripheral surface has a first predetermined shape. Methods of making the shaped ceramic abrasive particles, and abrasive articles including them are also disclosed.

A precursor mixture for producing a porous body, wherein the precursor mixture comprises: (i) at least one milled alpha alumina powder having a particle size of 0.1 to 6 microns, (ii) non-silicate powder that functions as a binder of the alpha alumina powders, and (iii) at least one burnout material having a particle size of 1-10 microns and a decomposition temperature of less than 550° C., with the proviso that a burnout material having a decomposition temperature of 550° C. or greater is excluded from the precursor mixture.

A ceramic filter having a pillar-shaped honeycomb structure, wherein when observing a plurality of pores from a surface of partition walls with a laser microscope and plotting an equivalent circle diameter (μm) of each pore on an X-axis and a pore depth (μm) of each pore on a Y-axis on a two-dimensional coordinate system, a slope of a regression line (y/x) obtained by a least squares method in a range of 20≤x≤40 is 0 to 0.20, an average value of the pore depth of the plurality of pores is 2.5 μm to 5.0 μm, and a number density of the plurality of pores is 600/mm.sup.2 to 2450/mm.sup.2.

A molded sintered body containing a mayenite type compound, an inorganic binder sintered material, and a transition metal, wherein a content of the inorganic binder sintered material is 3 to 30 parts by mass with respect to 100 parts by mass of the molded sintered body, and the molded sintered body has at least one pore peak in each of a pore diameter range of 2.5 to 20 nm and a pore diameter range of 20 to 350 nm. A method for producing the molded sintered body, including mixing a precursor of a mayenite type compound and a raw material of an inorganic binder sintered material to prepare a mixture; molding the mixture to prepare a molded body of the mixture; firing the molded body to prepare a fired product; and supporting a transition metal on the fired product to produce a molded sintered body.

A porous alpha-alumina catalyst support is prepared by (i) preparing a precursor material comprising a boehmitic-derived alumina having a pore volume of at least 0.6 mL/g, wherein the boehmitic-derived alumina is obtained by thermal decomposition of a boehmitic starting material and the boehmitic starting material consists predominantly of block-shaped crystals, and optionally an inorganic bond material; (ii) forming the precursor material into shaped bodies; (iii) calcining the shaped bodies to obtain the porous alpha-alumina catalyst support. The support structure has a high overall pore volume, while keeping its surface area sufficiently large so as to provide optimal dispersion of catalytically active species, in particular metal species. The support is useful for a catalyst for producing ethylene oxide by gas-phase oxidation of ethylene.

A process for producing a porous alpha-alumina catalyst support, comprising i) preparing a precursor material comprising, based on inorganic solids content, at least 50 wt.-% of a transition alumina having a loose bulk density of at most 600 g/L, a pore volume of at least 0.6 mL/g and a median pore diameter of at least 15 nm; and at most 30 wt.-% of an alumina hydrate; ii) forming the precursor material into shaped bodies; and iii) calcining the shaped bodies to obtain the porous alpha-alumina catalyst support. The catalyst support has a high overall pore volume, thus allowing for impregnation with a high amount of silver, while keeping its surface area sufficiently large so as to provide optimal dispersion of catalytically active species, in particular metal species. The invention further relates to a shaped catalyst body for producing ethylene oxide by gas-phase oxidation of ethylene, comprising at least 15 wt.-% of silver, relative to the total weight of the catalyst, deposited on a porous alpha-alumina catalyst support obtained in the process described above. The invention also relates to a process for preparing a shaped catalyst body as described above comprising impregnating a porous alpha-alumina catalyst support obtained in the process described above with a silver impregnation solution, preferably under reduced pressure; and optionally subjecting the impregnated porous alumina support to drying; and b) subjecting the impregnated porous alpha-alumina support to a heat treatment; wherein steps a) and b) are optionally repeated. The invention further relates to a process for producing ethylene oxide by gas-phase oxidation of ethylene, comprising reacting ethylene and oxygen in the presence of a shaped catalyst body as described above.

A reactive phase spray formulation coating is configured to be disposed on the thermal barrier coating of an article. The reactive phase spray formulation coating comprises a base material and a binder material. The base material has a compliance that is higher than a compliance of the binder material, the binder material has a cohesive strength that is greater than a cohesive strength of the base material, the binder material has an adhesive strength that is greater than an adhesive strength of the base material, and the binder material has a surface area of at least ten square-meters per gram that is greater than a surface area of the base material. The binder material is configured to improve a cohesive strength level, an adhesive strength level, and a compliance of the formulation coating of the thermal barrier coating relative to the formulation coating not including the binder material.

The present invention relates to an alumina fiber having a mass ratio (A/C) of the content (A) of iron oxide as expressed in terms of ferric oxide to the content (C) of titanium oxide of 2 to 121; and a mass ratio (B/C) of the content (B) of calcium oxide to the content (C) of titanium oxide of 0.4 to 14, with a sum total of the content (A) of iron oxide, the content (B) of calcium oxide, and the content (C) of titanium oxide being 0.0170 to 0.1180% by mass.