A nuclear fuel includes uranium(IV) oxide (UO.sub.2) and manganese (Mn) as a dopant. The Mn dopant may be present in the fuel in an amount up to the solubility limit for Mn under a given set of conditions, for example, about 0.01 wt % to about 1 wt %. The nuclear fuel is substantially free of aluminum (Al). The nuclear fuel exhibits enhanced grain size development during sintering temperatures as low at 1400 K due to an increase in uranium sub-lattice vacancies induced by dissolution of the Mn dopant at interstitial defect sites. The Mn-doped nuclear fuel exhibits improved grain sizes at lower temperatures compared to Cr-, Al-, and undoped UO.sub.2, and therefore desirably exhibits lower fission gas release and higher plasticity, reducing the chances of fuel rod failure.

Ceramic particles for use in a solar power tower and methods for making and using the ceramic particles are disclosed. The ceramic particle can include a sintered ceramic material formed from a mixture of a ceramic raw material and a darkening component comprising MnO as Mn.sup.2+. The ceramic particle can have a size from about 8 mesh to about 170 mesh and a density of less than 4 g/cc.

A precursor of an alumina sintered compact including aluminum, yttrium, and at least one metal selected from iron, zinc, cobalt, manganese, copper, niobium, antimony, tungsten, silver, and gallium. The aluminum content is 98.0% by mass or more as an oxide (Al.sub.2O.sub.3) in 100% by mass of the precursor of an alumina sintered compact; the yttrium content is 0.01 to 1.35 parts by mass as an oxide (Y.sub.2O.sub.3) based on 100 parts by mass of the content of the aluminum as an oxide; the total content of the metals selected from the foregoing group is 0.02 to 1.55 parts by mass as an oxide based on 100 parts by mass of the content of aluminum as an oxide; and the aluminum is contained as -alumina. Also disclosed is an alumina sintered compact, and a method for producing an alumina sintered compact and for producing abrasive grains.

Ceramic particles for use in a solar power tower and methods for making and using the ceramic particles are disclosed. The ceramic particle can include a sintered ceramic material formed from a mixture of a ceramic raw material and a darkening component comprising MnO as Mn.sup.2+. The ceramic particle can have a size from about 8 mesh to about 170 mesh and a density of less than 4 g/cc.

Multilayer oxide ceramic bodies and in particular presintered multilayer oxide ceramic blanks and oxide ceramic green bodies, which comprise at least two different layers and are suitable for dental applications, wherein at least one layer contains La.sub.2O.sub.3 and the at least two different layers differ in their content of La.sub.2O.sub.3. These bodies can be thermally densified by further sintering without distortion and are therefore particularly suitable for the production of dental restorations. The invention also relates to a process for the production of such multilayer oxide ceramic bodies as well as a process for the production of dental restorations using the multilayer oxide ceramic bodies.

The present disclosure relates to piezoelectric compositions of Formula I comprising Lead ZirconateLead Titanate solid solution. The disclosure further relates to a method of obtaining said composition, method of preparing/fabricating piezoelectric component(s) and piezoelectric component(s)/article(s) obtained thereof. The piezoelectric composition and articles of the present disclosure show excellent electromechanical characteristics along with very large insulation resistance (IR).

A composite thermistor material, a preparation method and an application thereof. The perovskite structure oxide and the pyrochlorite structure oxide are composite by solid state reaction method, which comprise process of ball milling, drying, and calcining. Then the thermistor ceramics with high temperature resistance and controllable B value are sintered at high temperature after mould forming, then the thermistor disks are coated by platinum paste, and then the platinum wire is welded as the lead wire to form thermistor element. The thermistor of the invention can realize temperature measurement from room temperature to 1000 C. and has good negative temperature coefficient thermistor characteristics. The thermistor coefficient B can be adjusted by changing the two-phase ratio to meet the requirements of different systems.

A multilayer component and a mathod for producing a multilayer component are disclosed. In an embodiment a multilayer component includes a ceramic main element and at least one metal structure, wherein the metal structure is cosintered and wherein main element is a varistor ceramic having 90 mol % of ZnO, from 0.5 to 5 mol % of Sb.sub.2O.sub.3, from 0.05 to 2 mol % of Co.sub.3O.sub.4, Mn.sub.2O.sub.3, SiO.sub.2 and/or Cr.sub.2O.sub.3, and <0.1 mol % of B.sub.2O.sub.3, Al.sub.2O.sub.3 and/or NiO.

The invention relates to a material for storing and releasing oxygen, consisting of a reactive ceramic made of copper, manganese and iron oxides, wherein, subject to the oxygen partial pressure of a surrounding atmosphere and/or an ambient temperature, the reactive ceramic has a transition region that can be passed through any number of times, said transition region being between a discharge threshold state of a three-phase crednerite/cuprite/hausmannite mixed ceramic and a charge threshold state of a two-phase spinel/tenorite mixed ceramic. A passing through of the transition region from the discharge threshold state towards the charging threshold state is associated with oxygen uptake and a passing through of the transition region from the charge threshold state towards the discharge threshold state is associated with oxygen release.

The ceramic composition contains Fe, Cu, Zn, Ni, Mn, Nb, and V. When the amounts of Fe, Cu, Zn, and Ni are respectively expressed in terms of Fe.sub.2O.sub.3, CuO, ZnO, and NiO, and a total amount of Fe.sub.2O.sub.3, CuO, ZnO, and NiO is 100 mol %, the ceramic composition contains from 46.70 mol % to 49.70 mol % of Fe in terms of Fe.sub.2O.sub.3, from 4.00 mol % to 7.50 mol % of Cu in terms of CuO, and from 7.00 mol % to 33.50 mol % of Zn in terms of ZnO, with the balance being Ni, and contains from 300 ppm to 10,000 ppm of Mn in terms of Mn.sub.2O.sub.3, from 2 ppm to 30 ppm of Nb in terms of Nb.sub.2O.sub.5, and from 10 ppm to 60 ppm of V in terms of V.sub.2O.sub.5 with respect to 100 parts by weight of the total amount of Fe.sub.2O.sub.3, CuO, ZnO, and NiO.