Disclosed herein is a method comprising disposing a container containing a metal and/or ferromagnetic solid and abrasive particles in a static magnetic field; where the container is surrounded by an induction coil; activating the induction coil with an electrical current, to heat up the metallic or ferromagnetic solid to form a fluid; generating sonic energy to produce acoustic cavitation and abrasion between the abrasive particles and the container; and producing nanoparticles that comprise elements from the container, the metal and/or the ferromagnetic solid and the abrasive particles. Disclosed herein too is a composition comprising first metal or a first ceramic; and particles comprising carbides and/or nitrides dispersed therein. Disclosed herein too is a composition comprising nanoparticles comprising chromium carbide, iron carbide, nickel carbide, γ-Fe and magnesium nitride.

Carbon-based single metal atom or bimetallic, trimetallic, or multimetallic alloy transition metal-containing catalysts derived from exoelectrogen bacteria and their methods of making and using thereof are described. The method comprising the steps of: (a) preparing a solution medium comprising at least an electron donor and an electron acceptor comprised of one or more salts of a transition metal; (b) providing exoelectrogen bacterial cells and mixing the exoelectrogen bacterial cells into the solution medium of step (a); (c) incubating the solution medium of step (b); (d) isolating the exoelectrogen bacterial cells from the incubated solution medium of step (c); and (e) pyrolyzing the exoelectrogen bacterial cells resulting in formation of the catalyst. The electron donor can be formate, acetate, or hydrogen.

Carbon-based single metal atom or bimetallic, trimetallic, or multimetallic alloy transition metal-containing catalysts derived from exoelectrogen bacteria and their methods of making and using thereof are described. The method comprising the steps of: (a) preparing a solution medium comprising at least an electron donor and an electron acceptor comprised of one or more salts of a transition metal; (b) providing exoelectrogen bacterial cells and mixing the exoelectrogen bacterial cells into the solution medium of step (a); (c) incubating the solution medium of step (b); (d) isolating the exoelectrogen bacterial cells from the incubated solution medium of step (c); and (e) pyrolyzing the exoelectrogen bacterial cells resulting in formation of the catalyst. The electron donor can be formate, acetate, or hydrogen.

There are provided a spherical silver powder which has the same diameter as that of a spherical silver powder produced by a conventional wet reduction method and which can sufficiently sinter the silver particles thereof to cause the silver particles to be adhered to each other at a relatively low temperature to form a conductive film having a low volume resistivity when it is used for a baked type conductive paste, and a method for producing the same. A spherical silver powder, which contains a neutral or basic amino acid having a carbon number of not less than 5 in each of particles thereof and which has an average particle diameter D.sub.50 of 0.2 to 5 μm based on a laser diffraction method, is produced by adding the neutral or basic amino acid having the carbon number of not less than 5 (such as proline, tyrosine, tryptophan, phenylalanine, arginine or histidine) to a water reaction system containing silver ions to mix a reducing agent therewith to deposit silver particles by reduction.

There are provided a spherical silver powder which has the same diameter as that of a spherical silver powder produced by a conventional wet reduction method and which can sufficiently sinter the silver particles thereof to cause the silver particles to be adhered to each other at a relatively low temperature to form a conductive film having a low volume resistivity when it is used for a baked type conductive paste, and a method for producing the same. A spherical silver powder, which contains a neutral or basic amino acid having a carbon number of not less than 5 in each of particles thereof and which has an average particle diameter D.sub.50 of 0.2 to 5 μm based on a laser diffraction method, is produced by adding the neutral or basic amino acid having the carbon number of not less than 5 (such as proline, tyrosine, tryptophan, phenylalanine, arginine or histidine) to a water reaction system containing silver ions to mix a reducing agent therewith to deposit silver particles by reduction.

Provided is an Fe-based nanocrystalline alloy powder. The Fe-based nanocrystalline alloy powder has a chemical composition, excluding inevitable impurities, represented by a composition formula of Fe.sub.aSi.sub.bB.sub.cP.sub.dCu.sub.eM.sub.f, where the M in the composition formula is at least one element selected from the group consisting of Nb, Mo, Zr, Ta, W, Hf, Ti, V, Cr, Mn, C, Al, S, O, and N, 79 at %≤a≤84.5 at %, 0 at %≤b<6 at %, 0 at %<c≤10 at %, 4 at %<d≤11 at %, 0.2 at %≤e≤0.53 at %, 0 at %≤f≤4 at %, a+b+c+d+e+f=100 at %, a degree of crystallinity is more than 10% by volume, and an Fe crystallite diameter of the Fe-based nanocrystalline alloy powder is 50 nm or less.

Provided is an Fe-based nanocrystalline alloy powder. The Fe-based nanocrystalline alloy powder has a chemical composition, excluding inevitable impurities, represented by a composition formula of Fe.sub.aSi.sub.bB.sub.cP.sub.dCu.sub.eM.sub.f, where the M in the composition formula is at least one element selected from the group consisting of Nb, Mo, Zr, Ta, W, Hf, Ti, V, Cr, Mn, C, Al, S, O, and N, 79 at %≤a≤84.5 at %, 0 at %≤b<6 at %, 0 at %<c≤10 at %, 4 at %<d≤11 at %, 0.2 at %≤e≤0.53 at %, 0 at %≤f≤4 at %, a+b+c+d+e+f=100 at %, a degree of crystallinity is more than 10% by volume, and an Fe crystallite diameter of the Fe-based nanocrystalline alloy powder is 50 nm or less.

The disclosure relates to methods for fabricating coreless printed circuit board (PCB) based transformers and/or coreless PCB-based circuits containing one or more coil inductor(s). More specifically, the disclosure relates to methods for fabricating coreless PCB-based transformers and/or inductors having concatenated helix architecture of their primary and secondary windings using layer-by-layer printing of dielectric and conductive patterns.

Alloys comprised of a refined microstructure, ultrafine or nano scaled, that when reacted with water or any liquid containing water will spontaneously and rapidly produce hydrogen at ambient or elevated temperature are described. These metals, termed here as aluminum based nanogalvanic alloys will have applications that include but are not limited to energy generation on demand. The alloys may be composed of primarily aluminum and other metals e.g., tin bismuth, indium, gallium, lead, etc. and/or carbon, and mixtures and alloys thereof. The alloys may be processed by ball milling for the purpose of synthesizing powder feed stocks, in which each powder particle will have the above-mentioned characteristics. These powders can be used in their inherent form or consolidated using commercially available techniques for the purpose of manufacturing useful functional components.

A method of manufacturing a chiral nano-structure having chirality using a magnetic field according to one embodiment of the present disclosure includes a magnetic field forming operation that forms a magnetic field; a particle arranging operation that arranges at least two nanoparticles in the magnetic field; and a magnetic field adjusting operation that adjusts at least one of a magnetic flux density, a magnetization direction, and a spatial range of the magnetic field, in which in the magnetic field adjusting operation, the arrangement of the nanoparticles arranged in the magnetic field is aligned to correspond to a structure of the magnetic field, and the entire structure is formed as a nano-structure having chirality.