According to the present invention, there are provided processes for preparing a porous composite material comprising a metal and a two-dimensional nanomaterial. In one aspect, the processes comprise the steps of: providing a powder comprising metal particles; heating the powder such that the metal particles fuse to form a porous scaffold; and forming a two-dimensional nanomaterial on a surface of the porous scaffold by chemical vapour deposition (CVD). Also provided are materials obtainable by the present processes, and products comprising said materials.

There is provided conductive paste excellent in electro-conductivity and thermal conductivity. Conductive paste comprising conductive filler being composite particles including copper powder and nanosize precipitates which are disposed on the surface of the copper powder and composed of at least one kind of transition metal belonging to the group 8 to group 10 of the periodic table or a compound of the transition metal, and a binder resin.

A soft magnetic nanoparticle comprising an iron aluminide nanoalloy of the DO.sub.3 phase as a core encapsulated in an inert shell made of alumina.

A silver powder, wherein the silver powder satisfies D.sub.50-IPA>D.sub.50-W, where in measurement of a volume-based particle size distribution of the silver powder by a laser diffraction particle size distribution analysis, D.sub.50-IPA (μm) is a cumulative 50% point of particle diameter of the silver powder when isopropyl alcohol (IPA) is used as a measurement solvent for dispersing the silver powder, and D.sub.50-W (μm) is a cumulative 50% point of particle diameter of the silver powder when water is used as a measurement solvent for dispersing the silver powder, and wherein a phosphorus content in the silver powder is 0.01% by mass or more but 0.3% by mass or less.

A method of manufacturing a highly insulating three-dimensional (3D) structure is provided. The method includes depositing a first layer of hollow microspheres onto a base. The hollow microspheres have a metallic coating formed thereon. A laser beam is scanned over the hollow microspheres so as to sinter the metallic coating of the hollow microspheres at predetermined locations. At least one layer of the hollow microspheres is deposited onto the first layer. Scanning by the laser beam is repeated for each successive layer until a predetermined 3D structure is constructed. The 3D structure includes a composite thermal barrier coating (TBC), which may be applied to a surface of components within an internal combustion engine, and the like. The composite TBC is bonded to the components of the engine to provide low thermal conductivity and low heat capacity insulation that is sealed against combustion gasses.

In one aspect, methods of making freestanding metal matrix composite articles and alloy articles are described. A method of making a freestanding composite article described herein comprises disposing over a surface of the temporary substrate a layered assembly comprising a layer of infiltration metal or alloy and a hard particle layer formed of a flexible sheet comprising organic binder and the hard particles. The layered assembly is heated to infiltrate the hard particle layer with metal or alloy providing a metal matrix composite, and the metal matrix composite is separated from the temporary substrate. Further, a method of making a freestanding alloy article described herein comprises disposing over the surface of a temporary substrate a flexible sheet comprising organic binder and powder alloy and heating the sheet to provide a sintered alloy article. The sintered alloy article is then separated from the temporary substrate.

A method for forming a metallization structure is provided, including forming a metallic powder layer on a substrate; performing a first laser sintering on a first portion of the metallic powder layer to form a metal layer; and in the presence of oxygen, performing a second laser sintering on a second portion of the metallic powder layer to form a metal oxide layer to serve as a first dielectric layer.

A silver powder, including: an organic substance on a surface of the silver powder, the organic substance containing at least one carboxyl group and at least one hydroxyl group in one molecule of the organic substance, wherein a BET specific surface area of the silver powder is 0.1 m.sup.2/g or more but 2.0 m.sup.2/g or less, and wherein a cumulative 50% point of particle diameter (D.sub.50) of the silver powder in a volume-based particle size distribution of the silver powder as measured by a laser diffraction particle size distribution analysis is 0.1 μm or more but 6.0 μm or less, and a ratio of [(D.sub.90−D.sub.10)/D.sub.5o] is 3.0 or less, where D.sub.50 is the cumulative 50% point of particle diameter, D.sub.90 is a cumulative 90% point of particle diameter of the silver powder, and D.sub.10 is a cumulative 10% point of particle diameter of the silver powder.

A step of, while a powder of an RLM alloy (where RL is Nd and/or Pr; M is one or more elements selected from among Cu, Fe, Ga, Co, Ni and Al) which is produced through atomization and a powder of an RH compound (where RH is Dy and/or Tb) are present on the surface of a sintered R-T-B based magnet, performing a heat treatment at a sintering temperature of the sintered R-T-B based magnet or lower is included. The RLM alloy contains RL in an amount of 65 at % or more, and the melting point of the RLM alloy is equal to or less than the temperature of the heat treatment. The heat treatment is performed while the RLM alloy powder and the RH compound powder are present on the surface of the sintered R-T-B based magnet at a mass ratio of RLM alloy:RH compound=9.6:0.4 to 5:5.

Provided is a dendritic silver-coated copper powder which is prevented from agglomeration, while ensuring excellent electrical conductivity by increasing contact points in cases where silver-coated dendritic copper powder particles are in contact with each other. This dendritic silver-coated copper powder is suitable for use in conductive pastes, electromagnetic shielding materials and the like. A dendritic silver-coated copper powder 1 according to the present invention has a dendritic form which comprises a linearly grown main trunk 2 and a plurality of branches 3 arising from the main trunk 2. The main trunk 2 and the branches 3 are configured of copper particles which have plate-like shapes having an average cross-sectional thickness of 0.2-1.0 μm, and the surfaces of which are coated with silver. This dendritic silver-coated copper powder 1 has an average particle diameter (D50) of 5.0-30 μm as determined by a laser diffraction/scattering particle size distribution measuring method.