Various embodiments of the present disclosure provide an additive manufacturing method. The method includes forming a first layer of a first ceramic material and forming a second layer of a second ceramic material. The method further includes contacting the first layer of the first ceramic material, the second layer of the second ceramic material, or both with a saturant. The method further includes heating the first layer of the first ceramic material, the second layer of the second ceramic material, or both to a temperature in a range of from about 50? C. to about 300? C. The method further includes applying pressure to the first layer of the first ceramic material, the second layer of the second ceramic material, or both. The pressure can be in a range of from about 10 kPa to about 800 MPa. The method further includes at least partially dissolving a portion of an external surface of a ceramic particle of the first layer of the first ceramic material, the second layer of the second ceramic material, or both. The method further includes fusing a portion of the dissolved portion of the external surface of the ceramic particle to from a product having a density in a range of from about 65% to about 100% relative to a corresponding fully densified product and optionally containing no organic binder.

A method for preparing a shell-bionic ceramic tool and a shell-bionic ceramic tool, wherein the shell-bionic ceramic tool includes alternating stacks of ceramic powders with different components, pressing a ceramic green body using a cold briquetting method, carrying out pre-pressing once using a graphite indenter on a working surface thereof after each layer of the ceramic powder being loaded, and pressing a last layer using a graphite rod, and then pressing a whole ceramic green body with a certain pressure to promote a bonding of the layers of ceramic powder, which in turn gives a complex shape to an interface between the layers, increases a bonding area between the layers, and plays the role of hindering crack expansion, extending the crack expansion path, and improving the bonding strength of the interface; after then, hot-pressed sintering is used to densify the ceramic green body to obtain the shell-bionic ceramic tool.

The invention relates to a method for producing a metal or ceramic component, wherein powder or a pre-sintered component is used, and the component is produced via a pressure-supported compacting and sintering step by means of at least one ram. According to the invention, a ram is used, the contact surface of which has an outer flat region and at least one inner region with a concave recess, whereby a component with regions of different porosities is produced during the compacting and sintering step at a maximum temperature (T.sub.1) and a predetermined force. With said method, it is possible to produce a metal or ceramic component in two method steps or preferably in only one method step, in such a way that the component has an outer flat region and at least one inner region with a convex elevation, and wherein the porosity of the outer flat region is significantly lower than the porosity of the inner region. A component of this type can be used preferably as a substrate/carrier for a membrane in a gas separation device or in a fuel or electrolytic cell.

A method for making a ceramic heat sink is provided. In the first step of the method, a mixed material of nitrite-based ceramic powder, titanium powder and inorganic resin is prepared. The mixed material is then molded into a ceramic blank with a mold coated with titanium. Thereafter, the ceramic blank may be sintered to form the ceramic heat sink. Since the mixture and the mold both contain a common material of titanium, the molded ceramic blank can be easily removed from the mold in its integrity.

Among two main surfaces of a heat dissipation member, one main surface is curved to be convex in an outward direction and the other convex in an inward direction. When a straight line passing through both endpoints P.sub.1 and P.sub.2 of the curve is l.sub.1, a point at which a distance to l.sub.1 on the curve is maximum is P.sub.max, an intersection point between l.sub.1 and a perpendicular drawn from P.sub.max to l.sub.1 is P.sub.3, a middle point of a line segment P.sub.1P.sub.3 is P.sub.4, an intersection point between the curve and a straight line that passes through P.sub.4 and is perpendicular to l.sub.1 is P.sub.mid, a length of the line segment P.sub.1P.sub.3 is L, a length of a line segment P.sub.3P.sub.max is H, and a length of a line segment P.sub.4P.sub.max is h, (2 h/L)/(H/L) is 1.1 or more.

A frame integrated vacuum hot press comprises a frame chamber including a vacuum space having an opened side; a door installed to the frame chamber to open or close the opened side of the vacuum space; a heating chamber including a heating space and a heater heating an object to be formed which is loaded in the heating space; and a cylinder which is connected to the frame chamber to apply pressure to the object to be formed which is loaded in the heating space of the heating chamber.

A die or piston of a spark plasma sintering apparatus, wherein the die or piston is made from graphite and the outer surfaces of the die or piston are coated with a silicon carbide layer with a thickness of 1 to 10 micrometres, the silicon carbide layer being further optionally coated with one or more other layer(s) made from a carbide other than silicon carbide chosen from hafnium carbide, tantalum carbide and titanium carbide, the other layer(s) each having a thickness of 1 to 10 micrometres. A spark plasma sintering (SPS) apparatus comprising the die and two of the pistons, defining a sintering, densification or assembly chamber capable of receiving a powder to be sintered, a part to be densified, or parts to be assembled. A method of sintering a powder, densifying a part, or assembling two parts by means of a method of spark plasma sintering (SPS) in an oxidising atmosphere, using the spark plasma sintering (SPS) apparatus.

Silicon particles for active materials and electro-chemical cells are provided. The active materials comprising silicon particles described herein can be utilized as an electrode material for a battery. In certain embodiments, the composite material includes greater than 0% and less than about 90% by weight of silicon particles. The silicon particles have an average particle size between about 0.1 ?m and about 30 ?m and a surface including nanometer-sized features. The composite material also includes greater than 0% and less than about 90% by weight of one or more types of carbon phases. At least one of the one or more types of carbon phases is a substantially continuous phase.

The present disclosure provides a transparent alumina-based plate, and a hot-pressing method to make the transparent alumina-based plate from platelet alumina. Alumina powder with a platelet morphology was hot-pressed to transparency with pre-load pressures of about 0-8 MPa, maximum temperatures of about 1750-1825? C., maximum pressures of about 2.5-80 MPa, and isothermal hold times of 1-7 hours. A novel alumina-based plate has been prepared, wherein the plate has a thickness of 2-5 mm, an in-line transmission of at least 60-75% for a light with a wavelength range of 645-2500 nm, an in-line transmission variance of <15% over the wavelength range of 645-2500 nm, and a relative density of 99.00-99.95%.

A ceramic lithium indium diselenide or like radiation detector device formed as a pressed material that exhibits scintillation properties substantially identical to a corresponding single crystal growth radiation detector device, exhibiting the intrinsic property of the chemical compound, with an acceptable decrease in light output, but at a markedly lower cost due to the time savings associated with pressing versus single crystal growth.