An iron powder for an exothermic composition according to the present invention has a bulk density of 0.3 to 1.5 g/cm.sup.3. Furthermore, an exothermic composition according to the present invention contains the iron powder, a carbon material, a halide salt, and water. Furthermore, an exothermic body production method according to the present invention includes: forming a coated member by coating a base material sheet with a flowable exothermic composition containing the iron powder, a carbon material, and water; and adjusting an amount of moisture in the coated member by removing water from the coated member. Furthermore, the present invention is directed to a production method for the iron powder (an iron powder for an exothermic composition) including: a reducing step of reducing iron oxide to obtain reduced iron; and a step of milling the reduced iron. In the reducing step, the iron oxide is reduced by introducing iron oxide and a solid reductant with a volatile matter content of 10% by mass or more into a heating furnace whose internal portion contains no sulfur gas or is set to an air or inert gas atmosphere, and setting the internal portion to a reducing gas atmosphere through heating under a condition that an ambient temperature of the internal portion is from 900 to 1000° C.

A mixed powder for powder metallurgy comprises: an iron-based powder; and a lubricant, wherein the lubricant consists of a low-melting-point lubricant having a melting point of 86° C. or less and a high-melting-point lubricant having a melting point of more than 86° C., the low-melting-point lubricant has at least one of an amide group, an ester group, an amino group, and a carboxyl group, a ratio R1 of the low-melting-point lubricant to whole of the lubricant is 5 mass % or more and less than 90 mass %, a ratio R2 of a mass of a free lubricant to a mass of a binding lubricant is 0 or more and 15 or less, and an amount R3 of the low-melting-point lubricant contained as the free lubricant is less than 0.10 parts by mass with respect to 100 parts by mass of the iron-based powder.

A three-dimensional chiral nanostructure according to an embodiment of the present invention comprises: metal nanoparticles having a chiral structure: and a coating layer enclosing the metal nanoparticles. The metal nanoparticle is formed in a polyhedral structure having an R region and an S region in which atoms are arranged clockwise and counterclockwise, respectively, in the order of (111), (100), and (110) crystal faces on the basis of the chiral center, wherein at least a portion of the edges form a curve tilting and extending from the R or S region so that the metal nanoparticle has a chiral structure.

A three-dimensional porous catalyst, catalyst carrier or absorbent structure of stacked strands of catalyst, catalyst carrier or absorbent material, composed of layers of spaced-apart parallel strands, wherein parallel strands within a layer are arranged in groups of two or more closely spaced-apart, equidistant strands separated by a small distance, wherein the groups of equidistant strands are separated from adjacent strands or adjacent groups of strands by a larger distance.

A three-dimensional porous catalyst, catalyst carrier or absorbent structure of stacked strands of catalyst, catalyst carrier or absorbent material, composed of layers of spaced-apart parallel strands, wherein parallel strands within a layer are arranged in groups of two or more closely spaced-apart, equidistant strands separated by a small distance, wherein the groups of equidistant strands are separated from adjacent strands or adjacent groups of strands by a larger distance.

The sintered electrical contact material described in this specification includes at least one salt dispersed within a silver matrix, and no more than 100 ppm of cadmium and cadmium compounds. The sintered electrical contact material exhibit contact resistances much lower than than commercially available silver composites. The salts dispersed within the silver matrix represent a new class of additives for silver composites for high and low current applications.

A gasification component for use in a gasification environment includes a metal-based substrate and a coating deposited on the metal-based substrate. The coating includes at least about 51% by weight of chromium in the alpha phase at an operating temperature of gasification.

A Cu-based sintered sliding member that can be used under high-load conditions. The sliding member is age-hardened, including 5 to 30 mass % Ni, 5 to 20 mass % Sn, 0.1 to 1.2 mass % P, and the rest including Cu and unavoidable impurities. In the sliding member, an alloy phase containing higher concentrations of Ni, P and Sn than their average concentrations in the whole part of the sliding member, is allowed to be present in a grain boundary of a metallic texture, thereby achieving excellent wear resistance. Hence, without needing expensive hard particles, there can be obtained, at low cost, a Cu-based sintered sliding member usable under high-load conditions. Even more excellent wear resistance is achieved by containing 0.3 to 10 mass % of at least one solid lubricant selected from among graphite, graphite fluoride, molybdenum disulfide, tungsten disulfide, boron nitride, calcium fluoride, talc and magnesium silicate mineral powders.

An abradable powder composition is includes a metal component, a lubricant component, and a polymer component. A portion of the metal component is wrapped in the lubricant component to achieve high lubricity and abradability. The abradable powder composition can be used to form an abradable seal coating provided for use in a turbo machinery having a housing and a wheel having multiple blades. The housing houses the wheel which rotates therein. The seal coating is formed on the inner walls of housing adjacent where the wheel blades pass during their rotation. When the wheel is rotated such that the blades contact the seal coating, it is abraded to form a close fit gap. The abradable seal coating preferably does not produce significant wear of the blade tips or transfer abradable material significantly to the blade tips upon being abraded.

An abradable powder composition is includes a metal component, a lubricant component, and a polymer component. A portion of the metal component is wrapped in the lubricant component to achieve high lubricity and abradability. The abradable powder composition can be used to form an abradable seal coating provided for use in a turbo machinery having a housing and a wheel having multiple blades. The housing houses the wheel which rotates therein. The seal coating is formed on the inner walls of housing adjacent where the wheel blades pass during their rotation. When the wheel is rotated such that the blades contact the seal coating, it is abraded to form a close fit gap. The abradable seal coating preferably does not produce significant wear of the blade tips or transfer abradable material significantly to the blade tips upon being abraded.