There is provided a silver-coated copper powder, which has excellent storage stability (reliability), and a method for producing the same. A silver-coated copper powder obtained by coating the surface of a copper powder, which is obtained by the atomizing method or the like, with 5 wt % or more (with respect to the silver-coated copper powder) of a silver containing layer of silver or a silver compound, is added to a gold plating solution, which is a potassium gold cyanide solution (to which at least one of tripotassium citrate monohydrate, anhydrous citric acid and L-aspartic acid is preferably added), to cause 0.01 wt % or more (with respect to the silver-coated copper powder) of gold to be supported on the surface of the copper powder coated with the silver containing layer.

A method and system for coating metallic powder particles is provided. The method includes: disposing an amount of metallic powder particulates within a fluidizing reactor; removing moisture adhered to the powder particles disposed within the reactor using a working gas; coating the powder particles disposed within the reactor using a precursor gas; and purging the precursor gas from the reactor using the working gas.

A manufacturing apparatus additively shapes an article by sintering or melting and then solidifying a metal powder through irradiation of a shaping optical beam. The manufacturing apparatus includes: a chamber; a metal powder feeding device that feeds the metal powder to an irradiation area; a shaping optical beam irradiation device that applies the shaping optical beam to the metal powder in the irradiation area; an absorptance enhancement assisting unit that performs a predetermined absorptance enhancement assisting treatment on the metal powder; and a shaping unit that, following implementation of the absorptance enhancement assisting treatment, performs a shaping treatment of additively shaping the article by applying the shaping optical beam and thus heating the metal powder to sinter or melt and then solidify.

The invention relates to nano-particles comprising metallic ferromagnetic nanocrystals combined with either amorphous or graphitic carbon in which or on which chemical groups are present that can dissociate in aqueous solutions.

According to the invention there is provided nano-particles comprising metal particles of at least one ferromagnetic metal, which metal particles are at least in part encapsulated by graphitic carbon.

The nano-particles of the invention are prepared by impregnating carbon containing bodies with an aqueous solution of at least one ferromagnetic metal precursor, drying the impregnated bodies, followed by heating the impregnated bodies in an inert and substantially oxygen-free atmosphere, thereby reducing the metal compounds to the corresponding metal or metal alloy.

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 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.

A composite soft magnetic material having low magnetostriction and high magnetic flux density contains: pure iron-based composite soft magnetic powder particles that are subjected to an insulating treatment by a Mg-containing insulating film or a phosphate film; and Fe—Si alloy powder particles including 11%-16% by mass of Si. A ratio of an amount of the Fe—Si alloy powder particles to a total amount is in a range of 10%-60% by mass. A method for producing the composite soft magnetic material comprises the steps of: mixing a pure iron-based composite soft magnetic powder, and the Fe—Si alloy powder in such a manner that a ratio of the Fe—Si alloy powder to a total amount is in a range of 10%-60%; subjecting a resultant mixture to compression molding; and subjecting a resultant molded body to a baking treatment in a non-oxidizing atmosphere.

Provided is a powder for a magnetic core (1), including a soft magnetic metal powder (2); and an insulating coating film (3) covering a surface of the soft magnetic metal powder (2), in which the insulating coating film (3) is formed of an aggregate of crystals (4) obtained by cleaving a layered oxide. The crystals (4) are obtained by, for example, cleaving a swellable smectite-group mineral, which is one kind of swellable layered clay mineral as the layered oxide.

Provided is soft magnetic powder used to manufacture a dust core having good mechanical strength and superior formability while iron loss is reduced. The soft magnetic powder for dust cores according to the invention is soft magnetic mixed powder that includes pure iron powder and soft magnetic iron-base alloy powder, wherein the proportion of the soft magnetic iron-base alloy powder in the mixture is 5 to 60 mass %, the ratio of the modes of the particle size distributions of the soft magnetic iron-base alloy powder and the pure iron powder ((the mode of the particle size distribution of the soft magnetic iron-base alloy powder)/(the mode of the particle size distribution of the pure iron powder)) is 0.9 or more and less than 5, and the ratio R.sub.over/R.sub.under is 1.2 or more, where R.sub.over is the mass proportion of soft magnetic iron-base alloy powder in mixed powder with a particle size of D50 or more based on the mass fraction, and R.sub.under is the mass proportion of soft magnetic iron-base alloy powder in mixed powder with a particle size of less than D50 based on the mass fraction.