Disclosed is a sanitary ware compatibly satisfying both low water absorption and weight reduction. The sanitary ware has a pottery substrate of a vitreous body and a glaze layer, in which part of the substrate is exposed to outside thereof without the glaze layer; the substrate has (A) an anorthite and (B) an alkali metal component; and an amount of the alkali metal component is in the range of 5 to 10% by weight in terms of an oxide conversion (A.sub.2O) relative to the substrate. This sanitary ware has the properties of low water absorption and light weight.

A description is given of the use of a refractory coating composition having a solids fraction of more than 69 wt %, based on the total mass of the coating composition, and also having a loss on ignition of less than 0.6 wt %, based on the total mass of the solids fraction of the coating composition, for producing a refractory coating on the inner walls of a centrifugal casting mold by means of a spray application. Further described is a method for producing a centrifugal casting mold provided on its inner walls with a refractory coating, for use in the centrifugal casting process, and also a method for producing a casting in the centrifugal casting process, preferably having a structured surface. Also described is a centrifugal casting mold for use in the centrifugal casting process, having a refractory coating on the inner walls of the centrifugal casting mold.

A method of preparing a positive electrode material is provided. The method includes mixing a first positive electrode active material precursor having an average particle diameter (D.sub.50) of 10 μm to 30 μm with a lithium-containing raw material and pre-sintering the mixture to obtain a first pre-sintered product, mixing a second positive electrode active material precursor having an average particle diameter (D.sub.50) different from that of the first positive electrode active material precursor with a lithium-containing raw material and pre-sintering the mixture to obtain a second pre-sintered product, disintegrating each of the first pre-sintered product and the second pre-sintered product, and mixing the disintegrated first pre-sintered product and the disintegrated second pre-sintered product and main-sintering the mixture to obtain a positive electrode material.

A ceramic deep-frying device capable of withstanding high temperatures and releasing far-infrared energy is made by grinding and mixing mullite, spodumene, energy ceramic material, ball clay, and kaolin clay into clay blank; molding the blank into ceramic green body; and sintering the green body at 1250-1320° C. for 18-24 hours. The device is completely immersed in the oil in a deep-frying vessel while leaving a gap between the device and heating pipe in the vessel or the inner bottom wall of the vessel, for enabling the oil to circulate through the through holes in the device due to temperature difference in the oil, causing the energy ceramic material to release anions and far-infrared rays that decrease van der Waals forces between oil molecules, and hence split, the oil molecules, thereby extending the service life of the oil, shortening the deep-frying time required, and lowering the oil content of deep-fried food.

Provided is a dielectric composition which includes, as a main component, a complex oxide represented by a general formula A.sub.aB.sub.bC.sub.4O.sub.15+α and having a tungsten bronze structure, wherein “A” includes at least Ba, “B” includes at least Zr, “C” includes at least Nb, “a” is 3.05 or higher, and “b” is 1.01 or higher. In the dielectric composition, when the total number of atoms occupying M2 sites in the tungsten bronze structure is set to 1, the proportion of “B” is 0.250 or higher. In addition, in the dielectric composition, an X-ray diffraction peak of a (410) plane of the tungsten bronze structure is splitted into two, and an integrated intensity ratio of an integrated intensity of a high-angle side peak of the X-ray diffraction peak with respect to an integrated intensity of a low-angle side peak of the X-ray diffraction peak is 0.125 or higher.

Disclosed are embodiments of synthetic garnet materials for use in radiofrequency applications. In some embodiments, increased amounts of bismuth can be added into specific sites in the crystal structure of the synthetic garnet in order to boost certain properties, such as the dielectric constant and magnetization. Accordingly, embodiments of the disclosed materials can be used in high frequency applications, such as in base station antennas.

A coated gas turbine engine part includes a substrate and a calcium-magnesium-alumino-silicate (CMAS) protection layer present on the substrate. The protection layer includes a first phase of a calcium-magnesium-alumino-silicate CMAS protection material capable of forming an apatite or anorthite phase in the presence of calcium-magnesium-alumino-silicates CMAS and a second phase including particles of at least one rare-earth REa silicate dispersed in the first phase.

A dielectric ceramic composition includes a main component of a perovskite type compound represented by a general formula of ABO.sub.3, in which A is an element in an A-site, B is an element in a B-site, and O is an oxygen element. A includes Ba. B includes Ti and Zr. A sintered-body lattice volume obtained by X-ray diffraction method is 64.50 Å.sup.3 or above.

The present invention is a composition and shaping of a ceramic material comprising at least one frit and at least one inorganic raw material. Some of the advantages are that said material requires a heat treatment no higher than 1180° C., that the duration of said heat treatment does not exceed 60 minutes, that the thermal expansion coefficient after the heat treatment is less than 25×10.sup.−7° C..sup.−1 in the temperature range 25° C. to 500° C. and that the material exhibits a high resistance to thermal shock, withstanding at least 10 consecutive thermal shock cycles between 600° C. and 25° C. without forming cracks or structural changes. The ceramic material composition is shaped by uniaxial pressing, band pressing, pour moulding, extrusion, injection moulding or lamination.

A nitride phosphor particle dispersion-type sialon ceramic of the present invention includes a matrix formed of a sialon-based compound; and at least one nitride phosphor which is dispersed in the matrix and contains a luminescence center element.