Composites of porous nano-featured silicon and various materials, such as carbon, are provided. The composites find utility in various applications, such as electrical energy storage electrodes and devices comprising the same.

According to the present invention, there are provided ferrite particles for bonded magnets and a resin composition for bonded magnets which are capable of producing a bonded magnet molded product having a good tensile elongation and exhibiting excellent magnetic properties, as well as a bonded magnet molded product such as a rotor which is obtained by using the resin composition. The present invention relates to ferrite particles for bonded magnets having a bulk density of not less than 0.5 g/cm.sup.3 and less than 0.6 g/cm.sup.3 and a degree of compaction of not less than 65%, a resin composition for bonded magnets using the ferrite particles, and a molded product obtained by using the ferrite particles and the resin composition.

Disclosed is a positive active material for a nonaqueous electrolyte secondary battery containing a lithium transition metal composite oxide, in which the lithium transition metal composite oxide has an α-NaFeO.sub.2 structure, a molar ratio Li/Me of Li and a transition metal (Me) of 1.05≤Li/Me≤1.4, and a porosity of 5 to 15%.

Provided are a method of preparing a metal oxide-silica composite aerogel, and a metal oxide-silica composite aerogel having an excellent weight reduction property prepared by the method. The method includes a step of adding an acid catalyst to a first water glass solution to prepare an acidic water glass solution (step 1); a step of adding a metal ion solution to the acidic water glass solution to prepare a precursor solution (step 2); and a step of adding a second water glass solution to the precursor solution and performing a gelation reaction (step 3) to yield a metal oxide-silica composite wet gel, wherein, in steps 2 and 3, bubbling of an inert gas is performed during the adding of the metal ion solution or the second water glass solution, respectively.

A method of preparing a bimodal positive electrode active material precursor and a positive electrode active material prepared from the same are disclosed herein. In some embodiments, the method includes inputting a first reaction source material including a first aqueous transition metal solution into a reactor, precipitating at pH 12 or more to induce nucleation of a first positive electrode active material precursor particle, and at less than pH 12 to induce growth of the same, inputting a second reaction source material including a second aqueous transition metal solution into the reactor containing the first positive electrode active material precursor particle, precipitating at pH 12 or more to induce the nucleation of a second positive electrode active material precursor particle, and at less than pH 12 to induce simultaneous growth of the first and second positive electrode active material precursor particles, thereby preparing a bimodal positive electrode active material precursor.

A method of making a β-SiAlON is described in involves mixing nanoparticles of AlN, Al.sub.2O.sub.3, and SiO.sub.2 with particles of Si.sub.3N.sub.4 and spark plasma sintering the mixture. The sintering may be at a temperature of 1450-1600° C. or about 1500° C. The particles of Si.sub.3N.sub.4 may be nanoparticles comprising amorphous Si.sub.3N.sub.4, or 25-55 μm diameter microparticles comprising β-Si.sub.3N.sub.4.

A synthesis method for producing a refractory oxide-ceramic material of CaZrO.sub.3, in particular in the form of a refractory granular material that is preferably mechanically comminuted, in particular crushed and/or ground, as well as to a batch and a coarse ceramic, shaped or unshaped, refractory product containing at least one pre-synthesized refractory calcium zirconate-containing granular material.

A method for manufacturing granulated silica. The method includes granulating silica powders each having a primary particle size of 5 to 50 nm by use of water, and hydrophobizing each surface of the silica powders with a silicon atom-containing hydrophobizing agent before or simultaneously with the granulation step.

Provided is a silica that exhibits a high matting property when utilized as a matting agent for a paint, and can also suppress the occurrence of cloudiness. The silica has an aggregated structure in which primary particles are aggregated, has a particle diameter ratio R represented by the following equation (1) of from 4.3 to 5.2, has an absorbance of 0.6 or less for light having a wavelength of 700 nm as an aqueous dispersion having a concentration of 1.48 mass %, and has a particle density measured with a He pycnometer of 2.18 g/cm.sup.3 or more: Equation (1) R=.sup.LD50/.sup.CD50 (in the equation (1), .sup.LD50 represents a volume-based 50% cumulative particle diameter (μm) of the silica measured based on a laser diffraction/scattering method, and .sup.CD50 represents a volume-based 50% cumulative particle diameter (μm) of the silica measured based on a Coulter counter method).

Provided is a method for producing surface-treated silica powder that has excellent gap permeability and that allows a resin composition to have low viscosity in a case where the surface-treated silica powder is used as a resin filler, for example, for a semiconductor sealant. A surface treatment agent is brought into contact with silica powder such that: (1) a cumulative 50 mass % diameter D.sub.50 of a mass-based particle size distribution obtained by a centrifugal sedimentation method is 300 nm to 500 nm (preferably 330 nm to 400 nm); (2) a loose bulk density is 250 kg/m.sup.3 to 400 kg/m.sup.3 (preferably 270 kg/m.sup.3 to 350 kg/m.sup.3); and (3) {(D.sub.90−D.sub.50)/D.sub.50}×100 is 30% to 45% (preferably 33% to 42%), to modify the surface of the silica powder, so that surface-treated silica powder is produced.