A thixomolding material includes: a metal body that contains Mg as a main component; and a coating portion that is adhered to a surface of the metal body via a binder and contains SiC particles containing SiC as a main component. A mass fraction of the SiC particles in a total mass of the metal body and the SiC particles is 2.0 mass % or more and 40.0 mass % or less. The binder may contain waxes. A content of the binder may be 0.001 mass % or more and 0.200 mass % or less.

An insulating material-coated soft magnetic powder includes: a core particle that includes a base portion containing a soft magnetic material containing Fe as a main component and at least one of Si, Cr, and Al, and that includes an oxide film provided on a surface of the base portion and containing an oxide of at least one of Si, Cr, and Al; and an insulating film that is provided on a surface of the core particle and that contains a ceramic, in which a thickness of the insulating film is 5 nm or more and 300 nm or less, and the oxide contained in the oxide film and the ceramic contained in the insulating film are mutually diffused at an interface between the oxide film and the insulating film.

A novel silver-coated copper powder, particularly a silver-coated copper powder particle having a dendritic shape, having increased electrical conductivity with no need to increase the silver content is provided. The silver-coated copper powder is composed of a silver-coated copper particle coated with a silver layer containing silver or a silver alloy, including a silver-coated copper particle having a dendritic shape, containing nitrogen (N) in the silver layer, and having a nitrogen (N) content of 0.2 to 10.0 parts by mass with respect to 100 parts by mass of the silver content.

A metal magnetic particle provided with an oxide layer on a surface of an alloy particle containing Fe and Si. The oxide layer has a first oxide layer, a second oxide layer, a third oxide layer, and a fourth oxide layer. Also, in line analysis of element content by using a scanning transmission electron microscope-energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, the first oxide layer is a layer where Fe content takes a local maximum value, the second oxide layer is a layer where Fe content takes a local maximum value, the third oxide layer is a layer where Si content takes a local maximum value, and the fourth oxide layer is a layer where Fe content takes a local maximum value.

The invention describes a method for producing ternary and binary ceramic powders and their thermal spraying capable of manufacturing thermal sprayed coatings with superior properties. Powder contain at least 30% by weight ternary ceramic, at least 20% by weight binary molybdenum borides, at least one of the binary borides of Cr, Fe, Ni, W and Co and a maximum of 10% by weight of nano and submicro-sized boron nitride. The primary crystal phase of the manufactured thermal sprayed coatings from these powders is a ternary ceramic, while the secondary phases are binary ceramics. The coatings have extremely high resistance against corrosion of molten metal, extremely thermal shock resistance and superior tribological properties at low and at high temperatures.

After preparing a silver-coated copper powder wherein the surface of a copper powder having an average particle diameter of 0.1 to 100 m is coated with silver, the silver-coated copper powder is sprayed into the tail flame region of a thermal plasma to cause silver on the surface of the copper powder to diffuse in the grain boundaries of copper on the inside of the copper powder, and thereafter, the surface of the copper powder is coated with silver to produce a metal composite powder wherein the percentage of the area occupied by silver on a cross section of the metal composite powder is 3 to 20% and wherein the surface thereof is coated with silver.

An iron powder and method of making an iron powder. The method includes a step of neutralizing an acidic aqueous solution containing a trivalent iron ion and a phosphorus-containing ion, with an alkali aqueous solution, so as to provide a slurry of a precipitate of a hydrated oxide, or a step of adding a phosphorus-containing ion to a slurry containing a precipitate of a hydrated oxide obtained by neutralizing an acidic aqueous solution containing a trivalent iron ion with an alkali aqueous solution. A silane compound is added to the slurry so as to coat a hydrolysate of the silane compound on the precipitate of the hydrated oxide. The precipitate of the hydrated oxide after coating is recovered through solid-liquid separation, the recovered precipitate is heated to provide iron particles coated with a silicon oxide, and a part or the whole of the silicon oxide coating is dissolved and removed.

A method of producing a diffusion alloyed powder having an iron or iron-based core powder having particles of an alloying powder containing Cu and Ni bonded to the surface of the core particles, including providing a unitary alloying powder capable of forming particles of a Cu and Ni containing alloy, mixing the unitary alloying powder with the core powder, and heating the mixed powders in a non-oxidizing or reducing atmosphere to a temperature of 500-1000 C. during a period of 10-120 minutes to convert the alloying powder into a Cu and Ni containing alloy, so as to diffusion bond particles of the Cu and Ni alloy to the surface of the iron or iron-based core powder.

A metal magnetic particle provided with an oxide layer on a surface of an alloy particle containing Fe and Si. The oxide layer has a first oxide layer, a second oxide layer, a third oxide layer, and a fourth oxide layer. Also, in line analysis of element content by using a scanning transmission electron microscope-energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, the first oxide layer is a layer where Fe content takes a local maximum value, the second oxide layer is a layer where Fe content takes a local maximum value, the third oxide layer is a layer where Si content takes a local maximum value, and the fourth oxide layer is a layer where Fe content takes a local maximum value.

An iron-based soft magnetic powder for dust core having a high magnetic flux density, maintaining high electric insulation even after annealing, and more excellent in the mechanical strength in which a coating film having a phosphate conversion coating film is formed on the surface thereof and the peak height for the absorption of hydroxyl groups formed at 3700 cm.sup.1 to 2500 cm.sup.1 is 0.04 or more being indicated by absorbance when the coating film is analyzed by infrared diffuse reflectance spectroscopy.