The present disclosure provides an additive manufacturing method by which a uniform powder bed can be formed even when the interior of a chamber is depressurized and a powder bed is formed on a stage as the stage is preheated and an inert gas is supplied. An additive manufacturing method for a shaped object S includes forming a powder bed PB on a stage 51 in a chamber 10, and fusing the powder bed PB by laser emission. According to this additive manufacturing method, a pressure in the chamber 10 is reduced to a pressure equal to or higher than 8000 [Pa] and equal to or lower than 30,000 [Pa], and the powder bed PB is formed on the stage 51 as the stage 51 is preheated and an inert gas is supplied.

Methods for fabricating an interconnect for a fuel cell stack that include providing a protective layer over at least one surface of an interconnect formed by powder pressing pre-alloyed particles containing two or more metal elements and annealing the interconnect and the protective layer at elevated temperature to bond the protective layer to the at least one surface of the interconnect.

Methods for fabricating an interconnect for a fuel cell stack that include providing a protective layer over at least one surface of an interconnect formed by powder pressing pre-alloyed particles containing two or more metal elements and annealing the interconnect and the protective layer at elevated temperature to bond the protective layer to the at least one surface of the interconnect.

Disclosed are methods of making porous zinc electrodes. Taken together, the steps are: forming a mixture of water, a soluble compound that increases the viscosity of the mixture, an insoluble porogen, and metallic zinc powder; placing the mixture in a mold to form a sponge; optionally drying the sponge; placing the sponge in a metal mesh positioned to allow air flow through substantially all the openings in the mesh; heating the sponge in an inert atmosphere at a peak temperature of 200 to 420° C. to fuse the zinc particles to each other to form a sintered sponge; and heating the sintered sponge in an oxygen-containing atmosphere at a peak temperature of 420 to 700° C. to form ZnO on the surfaces of the sintered sponge. The heating steps burn out the porogen.

Disclosed are methods of making porous zinc electrodes. Taken together, the steps are: forming a mixture of water, a soluble compound that increases the viscosity of the mixture, an insoluble porogen, and metallic zinc powder; placing the mixture in a mold to form a sponge; optionally drying the sponge; placing the sponge in a metal mesh positioned to allow air flow through substantially all the openings in the mesh; heating the sponge in an inert atmosphere at a peak temperature of 200 to 420° C. to fuse the zinc particles to each other to form a sintered sponge; and heating the sintered sponge in an oxygen-containing atmosphere at a peak temperature of 420 to 700° C. to form ZnO on the surfaces of the sintered sponge. The heating steps burn out the porogen.

A method of selectively oxidizing one or more target metals in an alloy comprising target and non-target metals is provided. The method comprises the steps of: i) melting the alloy and exposing the molten alloy to simultaneous fragmentation and oxidation in the presence of an oxygenated atomizing gas under conditions sufficient to yield an oxidation potential that oxidizes the one or more target metals in the alloy and does not oxidize the non-target metal(s); and ii) allowing the treated alloy to solidify. The method is useful to purify a non-target base metal. The method is also useful to produce a metal compound comprising a desired content of one or more oxidized target metals above the theoretical maximum generally achieved by thermal plasma spray surface coating applications.

A method of selectively oxidizing one or more target metals in an alloy comprising target and non-target metals is provided. The method comprises the steps of: i) melting the alloy and exposing the molten alloy to simultaneous fragmentation and oxidation in the presence of an oxygenated atomizing gas under conditions sufficient to yield an oxidation potential that oxidizes the one or more target metals in the alloy and does not oxidize the non-target metal(s); and ii) allowing the treated alloy to solidify. The method is useful to purify a non-target base metal. The method is also useful to produce a metal compound comprising a desired content of one or more oxidized target metals above the theoretical maximum generally achieved by thermal plasma spray surface coating applications.

A three-dimensional metallic foam is fabricated with an active oxide material for use as an anode for lithium batteries. The porous metal foam, which can be fabricated by a freeze-casting process, is used as the anode current collector of the lithium battery. The porous metal foam can be heat-treated to form an active oxide material to form on the surface of the metal foam. The oxide material acts as the three-dimensional active material that reacts with lithium ions during charging and discharging.

A coil component includes: a magnetic body part and a cover part covering one side of a magnetic layer part; and a coil part embedded in the magnetic body part. The magnetic body part is comprised of the following two types of layers: (A) an oblate soft magnetic grain-containing layer, and (B) a spherical grain-containing layer, wherein layer (A) extends over the entire range of the magnetic body part except for a portion including the coil part in a direction perpendicular to an axis direction of the coil part, layer (B) adjoins layer (A) in the axis direction. The cover part is constituted by multiple layers including one or more of layer(s) (A) and one or more of layer(s) (B) and extending over the entire range of the magnetic body part in the direction perpendicular to the axis direction.

A coil component includes: a magnetic body part and a cover part covering one side of a magnetic layer part; and a coil part embedded in the magnetic body part. The magnetic body part is comprised of the following two types of layers: (A) an oblate soft magnetic grain-containing layer, and (B) a spherical grain-containing layer, wherein layer (A) extends over the entire range of the magnetic body part except for a portion including the coil part in a direction perpendicular to an axis direction of the coil part, layer (B) adjoins layer (A) in the axis direction. The cover part is constituted by multiple layers including one or more of layer(s) (A) and one or more of layer(s) (B) and extending over the entire range of the magnetic body part in the direction perpendicular to the axis direction.