A process for making a mixed metal oxide, may involve: (a) providing a hydroxide or oxyhydroxide of TM with an average particle diameter (D50) in the range of from 0.1 μm to 5 mm; (b) subjecting the hydroxide or oxyhydroxide of TM to a stream of gas with a temperature in the range of from 150 to 2000° C., wherein TM contains nickel and at least one further transition metal selected from cobalt and manganese.

A method of making porous ceramic granules is provided. The method comprises heating pore-forming agent particles to a temperature above a glass transition temperature for the pore-forming agent particles; contacting the heated pore-forming agent particles with a ceramic material to form a mixture of pore-forming agent particles and ceramic material; heating the mixture to remove the pore-forming agent particles from the mixture to form a porous ceramic material; and micronizing the porous ceramic material to obtain the porous ceramic granules, wherein the porous ceramic granules have an average diameter from about 50 μm to 800 μm. The porous ceramic granules are also disclosed.

A glassy carbon compact according to the present invention has a maximum inscribed sphere diameter of 5 mm or greater, comprises pores having diameters of 500 nm or less dispersed throughout the glassy carbon compact, and has a density of 1.1 g/cm.sup.3 or greater.

Provided is an iron oxide powder for a brake friction material which can be suitably used in a brake friction material that is less likely to cause problems regarding brake squealing and that provides superior braking performance. The iron oxide powder for a brake friction material according to a first embodiment of the present invention is characterized by having a sulfur content of 150 ppm or less as measured by combustion ion chromatography, and a saturation magnetization of 20 emu/g or less. The iron oxide powder for a brake friction material according to a second embodiment of the present invention is characterized by having an average particle size of 1.0 μm or more, a chlorine content of 150 ppm or less as measured by combustion ion chromatography, and a saturation magnetization of 20 emu/g or less.

The invention relates to a millimeter-sized bulk spa amorphous carbon material and a method of preparing the same, and the method comprises a step of performing a high-temperature and high-pressure (HTHP) treatment on C.sub.60 powder at a temperature of 450-1100° C., preferably 700-1000° C., more preferably 900-1000° C., and most preferably 1000° C., and a pressure of 20-37 GPa, preferably 20-30 GPa, and most preferably 27 GPa, so as to obtain the millimeter-sized bulk sp.sup.3 amorphous carbon material. The sp.sup.3 carbon content in the amorphous carbon material is adjustable by changing the temperature and pressure conditions, so that the sp.sup.3 content is greater than 80%, and the sp.sup.3 content of high-quality samples is close to 100%. The optical band gap and thermal conductivity of the series of amorphous carbon materials can be effectively adjusted. The obtained series of amorphous carbon materials have ultra-high hardnesses, high thermal conductivities, adjustable band gaps (1.90-2.79 eV) which exceed the ranges of the band gaps of amorphous silicon and germanium. As a result, a new space is opened up for the application of amorphous materials.

Disclosed are a method for preparing lithium iron manganese phosphate precursor and a method for preparing lithium iron manganese phosphate. The method for preparing lithium iron manganese phosphate precursor comprises the following steps: (1) preparing liquid material A and liquid material B, wherein the liquid material A is a mixed solution of manganese salt and iron salt, and the liquid material B is oxalic acid or phosphoric acid solution; (2) subjecting liquid material A and liquid material B to a co-precipitation reaction in a rotary packed bed (100) to obtain a first slurry; (3) washing and filtering the first slurry to obtain a filter cake; (4) mixing the filter cake with water, adding a carbon source, and stirring until uniform to obtain a second slurry; (5) homogenizing the second slurry; (6) drying the homogenized second slurry, to obtain the lithium iron manganese phosphate precursor. The particle size of the lithium iron manganese phosphate precursor prepared by the method is finer and more uniform than that of a precursor prepared by a traditional method using a reaction kettle, the preparation speed is increased, and the carbon coating is more uniform. FIG. 1: : lithium iron manganese phosphate precursor FIG. 2: : lithium iron manganese phosphate FIG. 3: (V): Voltage (V) (mAh/g): Specific capacity (mAh/g) : charge curve : discharge curve FIG. 4: (mAh/g): Discharge specific capacity (mAh/g) Graphite-Copper Composite Material, Heat Sink Member Using the Same, and Method for Producing Graphite-Copper Composite Material