The process for manufacturing a ceramic timepiece component includes:manufacturing an intermediate component (E1) in the form of green body based on ceria-zirconia;totally or partially debinding (E2) the intermediate component to obtain a debound intermediate component:partially impregnating (E3) the debound intermediate component with at least one solution comprising at least one metal salt, on one portion only of its surface, to obtain an impregnated debound intermediate component:sintering and thermally treating (E4) the impregnated debound intermediate component by performing at least one heat treatment under a reducing atmosphere (E42; E41).

A semiconductive ceramic member includes alumina ceramics containing -alumina and titanium oxide. The alumina ceramics contains a content of 89-95% by mass of Al in terms of Al.sub.2O.sub.3, and a content of 5-11% by mass of Ti in terms of TiO.sub.2. When a total content of Al in terms of Al.sub.2O.sub.3 and Ti in terms of TiO.sub.2 is taken as 100 parts by mass, the alumina ceramics contains a content of 0.02-0.6 part by mass in total of Ca in terms of CaO and Ce in terms of CeO.sub.2 relative to the 100 parts by mass. The member has a bulk density of 3.7 g/cm.sup.3 or more and a peak of TiO.sub.x (0<x<2) within a binding energy range of 456-462 eV in X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. A surface of the member has a lightness index L* of 40 to 60, and L* of 1 or less.

The present invention aims to provide a scintillator which has a short fluorescence decay time, whose fluorescence intensity after a period of time following radiation irradiation is low, and which shows largely improved light-transmittance. A scintillator represented by the following General Formula (1), the scintillator including Zr, having a Zr content of not less than 1500 ppm by mass therein, and being a block of a sintered body. Q.sub.xM.sub.yO.sub.3z:A . . . (1) (wherein in General Formula (1), Q includes at least one or more kinds of divalent metallic elements; M includes at least Hf; and x, y, and z independently satisfy 0.5?x?1.5, 0.5?y?1.5, and 0.7?z?1.5, respectively).

The present disclosure relates to a method for preparing a silicon nitride ceramic material. The method including: (1) with at least one of silicon powder and silicon nitride powder as original powder and Y.sub.2O.sub.3 powder and MgO powder as sintering aids, the original powder and the sintering aids are mixed in a protective atmosphere, and the mixture is formed into a green body; (2) the resulting green body is put into a reducing atmosphere and pretreated at 500 C. to 800 C. to obtain a biscuit; and the reducing atmosphere is a hydrogen/nitrogen mixed atmosphere with a hydrogen content not higher than 5%; (3) the resulting biscuit is put into a nitrogen atmosphere and subjected to low-temperature heat treatment at 1600 C. to 1800 C. and high-temperature heat treatment at 1800 C. to 2000 C. in sequence.

A method of fabricating a ceramic molded body for sintering, which includes molding a raw material powder containing a ceramic powder and a thermoplastic resin having a glass transition temperature higher than room temperature into a predetermined shape by isostatic pressing and in which a first-stage press-molded body is fabricated by subjecting a uniaxially press-molded body fabricated by uniaxially pressing the raw material powder into a predetermined shape or the raw material powder filled in a rubber die to a first-stage isostatic press molding at a temperature lower than a glass transition temperature of the thermoplastic resin and then a ceramic molded body is fabricated by heating this first-stage press-molded body to a temperature equal to or higher than the glass transition temperature of the thermoplastic resin and performing warm isostatic press molding as second-stage isostatic press molding.

The present invention provides a porous metal-containing carbon-based material that is stable at high temperatures under aqueous conditions. The porous metal-containing carbon-based materials are particularly useful in catalytic applications. Also provided, are methods for making and using porous shaped metal-carbon products prepared from these materials.

Provided are a ceramic complex capable of improving the luminous efficiency, a projector comprising a ceramic complex, and a method for producing a ceramic complex. Proposed is a ceramic complex including a rare earth aluminate fluorescent material having an average particle diameter in a range of 15 m or more and 40 m or less, aluminum oxide having a purity of aluminum oxide of 99.0% by mass or more, and voids, wherein the content of the rare earth aluminate fluorescent material is in a range of 15% by mass or more and 50% by mass or less relative to a total amount of the rare earth aluminate fluorescent material and the aluminum oxide, and a void fraction is in a range of 1% or more and 10% or less.

A method of making a glass sheet includes exposing a refractory block material comprising at least one multivalent component to a reducing atmosphere for a time and at a temperature sufficient to substantially reduce the at least one multivalent component of the refractory block material. The method also includes flowing molten glass over the refractory block material that has been exposed to the reducing atmosphere while preventing substantial re-oxidation of the at least one multivalent component.

A method of manufacture for a carbon/carbon part including a method to remove contamination from an intermediate product of the carbon/carbon part and furnace utilizing a gaseous reducing agent hydrogen gas to reduce the contaminates, thereby causing the contaminates to transition to a gaseous state at relatively lower temperatures. A method to remove contamination from an intermediate product of the carbon/carbon part and furnace utilizing hydrogen gas to reduce the contaminates, thereby causing the contaminates to transition to a gaseous state at relatively lower temperatures.

A transparent ceramic material is manufactured by molding a source powder into a compact, the source powder comprising a rare earth oxide consisting of at least 40 mol % of terbium oxide and the balance of another rare earth oxide, and a sintering aid, sintering the compact at a temperature T (1,300 C.T1,650 C.) by heating from room temperature to T1 (1200 C.T1T) at a rate of at least 100 C./h, and optionally heating from T1 at a rate of 1-95 C./h, and HIP treating the sintered compact at 1,300-1,650 C. The ceramic material has improved diffuse transmittance in the visible region and functions as a magneto-optical part in a broad visible to NIR region.