The present disclosure provides for compositions of magnetic nanoparticles and methods of making magnetic nano-particles with large magnetic diameters.

A carbon-coated transition metal nanocomposite material includes carbon-coated transition metal particles having a core-shell structure. The shell layer of the core-shell structure is a graphitized carbon layer doped with oxygen and/or nitrogen, and the core of the core-shell structure is a transition metal nanoparticle. The nanocomposite material has a structure rich in mesopores, is an adsorption/catalyst material with excellent performance, can be used for catalyzing various hydrogenation reduction reactions, or used as a catalytic-oxidation catalyst useful for the treatment of volatile organic compounds in industrial exhaust gases.

There is provided a method of manufacturing nanoparticles comprising the steps of feeding a core precursor into a plasma torch in a plasma reactor, thereby producing a vapor of silicon or alloy thereof; and allowing the vapor to migrate to a quenching zone of the plasma reactor, thereby cooling the vapor and allowing condensation of the vapor into a nanoparticle core made of the silicon or alloy thereof, wherein the quenching gas comprises a passivating gas precursor that reacts with the surface of the core in the quenching zone produce a passivation layer covering the core, thereby producing said nanoparticles. The present invention also relates to nanoparticles comprising a core covered with a passivation layer, the core being made of silicon or an alloy thereof, as well as their use, in particular in the manufacture of anodes.

There is provided a method of manufacturing nanoparticles comprising the steps of feeding a core precursor into a plasma torch in a plasma reactor, thereby producing a vapor of silicon or alloy thereof; and allowing the vapor to migrate to a quenching zone of the plasma reactor, thereby cooling the vapor and allowing condensation of the vapor into a nanoparticle core made of the silicon or alloy thereof, wherein the quenching gas comprises a passivating gas precursor that reacts with the surface of the core in the quenching zone produce a passivation layer covering the core, thereby producing said nanoparticles. The present invention also relates to nanoparticles comprising a core covered with a passivation layer, the core being made of silicon or an alloy thereof, as well as their use, in particular in the manufacture of anodes.

Methods for producing final bodies that contain a fine-grained refractory complex concentrated alloy (RCCA), as well as RCCAs, intermediate materials and final bodies containing the RCCAs, and high-temperature devices formed by such final bodies. Such a method includes providing a precursor with one or more precursor compounds containing elements of an RCCA, reducing the precursor compounds in the precursor via reaction with a reducing agent so as to generate the RCCA and a compound comprising a product of the reaction between the reducing agent and the precursor compounds, generating a solid material that contains at least the RCCA, forming with the solid material a porous intermediate body, and consolidating the porous intermediate body so as to partially or completely remove the pore volume from the porous intermediate body, and in doing so yield either a denser final body or a denser film.

Methods for producing final bodies that contain a fine-grained refractory complex concentrated alloy (RCCA), as well as RCCAs, intermediate materials and final bodies containing the RCCAs, and high-temperature devices formed by such final bodies. Such a method includes providing a precursor with one or more precursor compounds containing elements of an RCCA, reducing the precursor compounds in the precursor via reaction with a reducing agent so as to generate the RCCA and a compound comprising a product of the reaction between the reducing agent and the precursor compounds, generating a solid material that contains at least the RCCA, forming with the solid material a porous intermediate body, and consolidating the porous intermediate body so as to partially or completely remove the pore volume from the porous intermediate body, and in doing so yield either a denser final body or a denser film.

Use of heterogeneous nucleation allows the localized reduction of metal salt and also cross-link the carbon precursor in the same region. This cross-linked matrix act as the secondary heterogeneous sites for spontaneous Nano particle synthesis and growth during the process of pyrolysis. Selectively creating heterogeneous sites and reducing the metal precursor using highly focused energy beams create various metal-carbon composites with controlled metal positioning. This is such a unique process where a pretreatment process will control the fabrication of complex metal-carbon composite nano and microstructures. This greatly simplifies the fabrication process, facilitating nanostructures like Nano metal bulbs, nanometal pointed nanogaps and metal sandwich structures with such process. With several advantages ranging from electronics, catalysis, optics and several other bio-functionalization technologies, this enables materials with unique and hybrid advantages. Moreover, fabrication of micro and Nano level structures provides a CMEMS and BIOMEMS relevant approach for wide range of applications.

Use of heterogeneous nucleation allows the localized reduction of metal salt and also cross-link the carbon precursor in the same region. This cross-linked matrix act as the secondary heterogeneous sites for spontaneous Nano particle synthesis and growth during the process of pyrolysis. Selectively creating heterogeneous sites and reducing the metal precursor using highly focused energy beams create various metal-carbon composites with controlled metal positioning. This is such a unique process where a pretreatment process will control the fabrication of complex metal-carbon composite nano and microstructures. This greatly simplifies the fabrication process, facilitating nanostructures like Nano metal bulbs, nanometal pointed nanogaps and metal sandwich structures with such process. With several advantages ranging from electronics, catalysis, optics and several other bio-functionalization technologies, this enables materials with unique and hybrid advantages. Moreover, fabrication of micro and Nano level structures provides a CMEMS and BIOMEMS relevant approach for wide range of applications.

Use of heterogeneous nucleation allows the localized reduction of metal salt and also cross-link the carbon precursor in the same region. This cross-linked matrix act as the secondary heterogeneous sites for spontaneous Nano particle synthesis and growth during the process of pyrolysis. Selectively creating heterogeneous sites and reducing the metal precursor using highly focused energy beams create various metal-carbon composites with controlled metal positioning. This is such a unique process where a pretreatment process will control the fabrication of complex metal-carbon composite nano and microstructures. This greatly simplifies the fabrication process, facilitating nanostructures like Nano metal bulbs, nanometal pointed nanogaps and metal sandwich structures with such process. With several advantages ranging from electronics, catalysis, optics and several other bio-functionalization technologies, this enables materials with unique and hybrid advantages. Moreover, fabrication of micro and Nano level structures provides a CMEMS and BIOMEMS relevant approach for wide range of applications.

The method for making carbon-coated copper nanoparticles is a simple, one-step for coating copper nanoparticles with a carbon shell to prevent rapid oxidation of the carbon nanoparticle core. The method involves heating or autoclaving thin sheets of copper hydroxide nitrate (Cu.sub.2(OH).sub.3NO.sub.3) under supercritical conditions (a temperature of 300° C. and a pressure of 120 bar) for two hours. The autoclaving may be performed in the presence of an inert gas, such as argon, which may be used to remove any remaining gases, and the pressure may be released in the presence of the inert gas so that the product may be collected in the presence of air.