A simple method for making low surface area alloy particles with high silicon content has been discovered. The method involves two ball milling steps in which silicon containing precursor particles undergo a first milling to render the elemental silicon present to have an average grain size less than 20 nm, followed by a second milling with incorporated binding metal particles (e.g. certain transition metals) that serve to bind the first milled particles together. Done appropriately, the two milling step method results in alloy particles with high silicon content and have relatively low surface area and large particle size. As such, the particles are desirable for use in anode electrodes in rechargeable lithium batteries.

A selective laser melting technology-based apparatus for preparing a gradient material, comprising a laser scanning array lens, and a powder storer, a powder mixer, a powder scraping plate, and a working platform that are provided in sequence from top to bottom; the powder storer is provided with two or more partitions; a bottom portion of the powder storer is provided with an outlet; the powder mixer is provided under the powder storer and is a horizontally provided rotational mixer; the powder scraping plate is disposed under the powder mixer; the working platform is provided under the powder scraping plate; the laser scanning array lens is provided on the working platform. The present invention further relates to a method for preparing a gradient material, comprising powder storing, powder scraping, powder mixing, powder laying, and printing. The method can guarantee the two-phase powder ratio in each layer of powder not change.

A process for synthesizing a material, includes: (a) providing a plurality of powders including at least one lithiated powder including lithium, at least one TM powder including, for more than 95.0% of its mass, a transition metal chosen from titanium; cobalt, manganese, nickel, niobium, tin, iron and mixtures thereof, and at least one chalcogen powder including, for more than 95.0% of its mass, a chalcogen element chosen from sulfur, selenium, tellurium and mixtures thereof, (b) preparing a particulate mixture by mixing all the powders of the plurality or by mixing one of the powders of the plurality with a milled material obtained by; milling a particulate assembly formed by mixing at least two of the other powders of the plurality, and (c) milling the particulate fixture to form the material.

Described herein are embodiments directed to additive manufacturing (AM), including three-dimensional (3D) printing, of metal nitride ceramics. In some embodiments herein, AM may comprise powder bed fusion (PBF) techniques. Also described herein are metal nitride ceramic components formed by AM techniques and methods for forming metal nitrides capable of being used in AM processes.

A method of titanium rod additive manufacturing may comprise: mixing a plurality of powdered metals comprising titanium, iron, vanadium, and aluminum to produce a powder blend; isostatic pressing the powder blend to form a billet having a cross-sectional profile; cutting the billet to form a rod feedstock having the first cross-sectional profile; loading the rod feedstock into an additive manufacturing machine configured to deposit the rod feedstock; and producing a metallic component from the rod feedstock.

A method of forming a rod feedstock for titanium stir friction welding additive manufacturing may comprise: mixing a plurality of powdered metals comprising titanium, iron, vanadium, and aluminum to produce a powder blend; at least one of die pressing the powder blend to form a die pressed powder or continuously powder rolling the powder blend to form a die pressed powder; and sintering the powder blend to form a rod feedstock having a cross-sectional profile.

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 method (100) for producing a particulate titanium alloy product can include preparing (110) a composite particulate oxide mixture with TiO.sub.2 powder and at least one alloying element powder. The composite particulate oxide mixture can be co-reduced (120) using a metallic reducing agent under a hydrogen atmosphere at a reduction temperature for a reduction time sufficient to produce a hydrogenated titanium alloy product. The hydrogenated titanium alloy product can then be heat treated (130) under a hydrogen atmosphere and a heat treating temperature to reduce pore size and specific surface area to form a heat treated hydrogenated titanium product. The heat treated hydrogenated titanium product can be deoxygenated (140) to reduce residual oxygen to less than 0.2 wt % to form a deoxygenated hydrogenated titanium product as a particulate. The deoxygenated hydrogenated titanium product can optionally be dehydrogenated (150) to form the titanium alloy product as a particulate.

Articles are manufactured using self-propagating high-temperature synthesis (SHS) reactions. Particulates including reactants can be blended to form a particulate blend. The particulate blend can be preformed. The preform article can be heated to a pre-heat temperature being below an auto-activation temperature and above a minimum compression activated synthesis temperature. Compressive stress can be exerted on the preform article at the pre-heat temperature to initiate the SHS reaction between the reactants and thereby form a product metallic compound. At approximately peak temperature, a flow stress of the product metallic compound can be exceeded to substantially reduce porosity and thereby form a shaped substantially dense article.

A cermet contains hard phase particles containing Ti and a binding phase containing at least one of Ni and Co, and 70% or more (by number) of the hard phase particles have a cored structure containing a core and a peripheral portion around the core. The core is composed mainly of at least one of Ti carbide, Ti nitride, and Ti carbonitride, and the peripheral portion is composed mainly of a Ti composite compound containing Ti and at least one selected from W, Mo, Ta, Nb, and Cr. The core has an average particle size α, the peripheral portion has an average particle size β, and α and β satisfy 1.1≦β/α≦1.7.