A lithium-ion secondary-battery negative electrode material, consisting of graphite particles satisfying the following (1) to (3): (1) having a specific surface area of 2.7 m.sup.2/g or less; (2) having a compression pressure of 2.8 kN/cm.sup.2 or more; and (3) having a value, representing elastic energy/plastic deformation energy, or 4 or more.

A template-assisted method for the synthesis of 2D nanosheets comprises growing a 2D material on the surface of a nanoparticle substrate that acts as a template for nanosheet growth. The 2D nanosheets may then be released from the template surface, e.g. via chemical intercalation and exfoliation, purified, and the templates may be reused.

Provided are a barium titanate powder having spherical shape fine particles which have an average particle diameter (D.sub.50) in a range of about 140-270 nm, a tetragonal structure having a markedly improved tetragonality (c/a) in a range of 1.007-1.01 in contrast to the conventional composition, and at the same time, a markedly improved crystallinity in a range of 93-96%, thereby showing improved dielectric properties, and a manufacturing method thereof.

A group of reductive 2D materials (R2D) with extended reactive vacancies and a method for making the R2D with extended reactive vacancies are provided, especially the example of the reductive boron nitride (RBN). To create defects such as vacancies, boron nitride (BN) powders are milled at cryogenic temperatures. Vacancies are produced by milling, and the vacancies can be used to reduce various metal nanostructures on RBN. Due to the thermal stability of the RBN and the enhanced catalytic performance of metal nanostructures, RBN-metals can be used for different catalysts, including electrochemical catalysts and high temperature catalysts.

Provided are a cathode active material used for a lithium ion secondary battery capable of sufficiently realizing both high charge/discharge capacities and excellent cycle properties, and a lithium ion secondary battery using the cathode active material. The cathode active material contains a plurality of secondary particles formed via agglomeration of a plurality of primary particles of a lithium transition metal composite oxide. Spreading resistance distributions of the secondary particles respectively observed in cross-sections at optional three positions of the cathode active material are measured so as to afford average values of spreading resistance of the secondary particles in the respective cross-sections. The average values of spreading resistance of the secondary particles are further averaged. The resultant averaged value of spreading resistance is made to enter the range of 1.010.sup.6 /cm or more and 1.010.sup.10 /cm or less.

A knife may include a blade having a first side face and a second side face. The blade may include zirconia as a main component, and include a cutting region including at least a ridge portion between the first side face and the second side face. When a portion including the cutting region in the first side face is referred to as a first cutting face, and a portion including the cutting region in the second side face is referred to as a second cutting face, the proportion of cubic crystals of zirconia in the first cutting face may be larger than the proportion of cubic crystals of zirconia in the second cutting face.

High quality, catalyst-free boron nitride nanotubes (BNNTs) that are long, flexible, have few wall molecules and few defects in the crystalline structure, can be efficiently produced by a process driven primarily by Direct Induction. Secondary Direct Induction coils, Direct Current heaters, lasers, and electric arcs can provide additional heating to tailor the processes and enhance the quality of the BN-NTs while reducing impurities. Heating the initial boron feed stock to temperatures causing it to act as an electrical conductor can be achieved by including refractory metals in the initial boron feed stock, or providing additional heat via lasers or electric arcs. Direct Induction processes may be energy efficient and sustainable for indefinite periods of time. Careful heat and gas flow profile management may be used to enhance production of high quality BNNT at significant production rates.

A solid ice melting composition is composed of pelletized salt, the pelletized salt having a plurality of salt particles pressed together, inter-particle spaces between the salt particles inside the pelletized salt, and a deicing liquid in the inter-particle spaces. The composition is produced by pelletizing a plurality of salt particles to form pelletized salt, and introducing deicing liquid into inter-particles spaces between the salt particles in the pelletized salt by infusing the deicing liquid into the pelletized salt. The solid ice melting composition is easy to handle and spread, is longer lasting and is effective at temperatures down to about 30 C. or lower.

Disclosed herein are processes for purifying as-synthesized boron nitride nanotube (BNNT) material to remove impurities of boron, amorphous boron nitride (a-BN), hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) nanocages, h-BN nanosheets, and carbon-containing compounds. The processes include heating the BNNT materials at different temperatures in the presence of inert gas and a hydrogen feedstock or in the presence of oxygen.

In a first step of a method for producing a transparent AlN sintered body, first, a formed body is prepared by forming a mixture obtained by mixing a sintering aid with an AlN raw-material powder containing a plate-like AlN powder whose plate surface is a c-plane and which has an aspect ratio of 3 or more. At this time, the mixture is formed such that the plate surface of the plate-like AlN powder is disposed along a surface of the formed body. In a second step, an oriented AlN sintered body is obtained by subjecting the formed body to hot-press sintering in a non-oxidizing atmosphere while applying a pressure to the surface of the formed body. In a third step, a transparent AlN sintered body is obtained by sintering the oriented AlN sintered body at normal pressure in a non-oxidizing atmosphere to remove a component derived from the sintering aid.