The present invention relates to a particulate carbon material that can be produced from renewable raw materials, in particular from biomass containing lignin, comprising: a MC content that corresponds to that of the renewable raw materials, said content being preferably greater than 0.20 Bq/g carbon, especially preferably greater than 0.23 Bq/g carbon, but preferably less than 0.45 Bq/g carbon in each case; a carbon content in relation to the ash-free dry substance of between 60 ma. % and 80 ma. %; an STSA surface area of the primary particles of at least 5 m.sup.2/g and at most 200 m.sup.2/g; and an oil absorption value (OAN) of between 50 ml/100 g and 150 ml/100 g. The present invention also relates to a method for producing said carbon material and to the use thereof.

Carbon nanostructures are used to prepare electrode compositions for lithium ion batteries. In one example, an anode for a Li ion battery includes three-dimensional carbon nanostructures made of highly entangled nanotubes, fragments of carbon nanostructures and/or fractured nanotubes, which are derived from the carbon nanostructures, are branched and share walls with one another. Amounts of carbon nanostructures employed can be less than or equal to 0.5 weight % relative to the weight of the electrode composition.

A zinc oxide powder in which a BET specific surface area of the powder is 8 m.sup.2/g or more and 65 m.sup.2/g or less, an apparent specific volume measured by a loose packing method of the powder is 1.0 mL/g or more and 7.5 mL/g or less, and a value indicated by (the apparent specific volume measured by the loose packing method/an apparent specific volume measured by a tapping method), which is obtained by dividing the apparent specific volume (mL/g) measured by the loose packing method by the apparent specific volume (mL/g) measured by the tapping method of the powder, is 1.50 or more and 2.50 or less.

A printing system is disclosed for thermal transfer printing onto a surface of a substrate. The system comprises a transfer member having opposite front and rear sides with an imaging surface on the front side, a coating station at which a monolayer of particles made of, or coated with, a thermoplastic polymer is applied to the imaging surface, an imaging station at which energy is applied by a thermal print head via the rear side of the transfer member to selected regions of the imaging surface to render particles coating the selected regions tacky, and a transfer station at which the imaging surface of the transfer member and the substrate surface are pressed against each other to cause transfer to the surface of the substrate of the particles that have been rendered tacky.

There is disclosed a layered article that can be used in indirect printing, in analog or digital processes. The layered article, when configured as a transfer member, may serve to receive an ink in any form, allow the ink to be treated so as to form an ink image, and permit the application of the ink image on a substrate. The transfer member comprises a support layer and an imaging layer, which may be formed of a silicon matrix including dispersed carbon black particles. Methods for preparing the same are also disclosed.

Calcium silicate powders are provided. The calcium silicate powders comprise porous calcium silicate particles and an additive, the additive being at least partially penetrated into the pores of the particles. The additive is present in an amount of between 1.5 and 50%w, wherein %w is the weight ratio, expressed as percentage, of the dry weight of the additive over the dry weight of the combination of the calcium silicate particles and additive.

Provided are a positive electrode active material with which a nonaqueous electrolyte secondary battery having a high energy density can be obtained, a nickel-manganese composite hydroxide suitable as a precursor of the positive electrode active material, and production methods capable of easily producing these in an industrial scale. Provided is a nickel-manganese composite hydroxide represented by General Formula (1): Ni.sub.xMn.sub.yM.sub.z(OH).sub.2+α and containing a secondary particle formed of a plurality of flocculated primary particles. The nickel-manganese composite hydroxide has a half width of a diffraction peak of a (001) plane obtained by X-ray diffraction measurement of at least 0.10° and up to 0.40° and has a degree of sparsity/density represented by [(void area within secondary particle/cross section of secondary particle)×100](%) of at least 0.5% and up to 10%. Also provided is a production method of the nickel-manganese composite hydroxide.

The invention relates to a method for hydrophilicizing a semi-finished element, in particular an electrode element, a bipolar element and/or a heat exchanger element, made of a plastic material or plastic composite material containing at least one thermoplastic and/or at least one thermosetting plastic. In order that the wettability of the component surface for aqueous media can be increased with smaller structure changes, with lower costs and with less effort, provision is made for the hydrophilicizing to be caused at least partially by applying carbon particles at least in sections on at least one surface of the semi-finished element and the carbon particles to be applied by rubbing, pressurised gas jet and/or by electrostatics at least in sections on the at least one surface in such manner that the carbon particles remain adhered to the surface.

Silica particles having a d50 median particle size of at least 6 μm, a ratio of (d90−d10)/d50 from 1.1 to 2.4, a RDA at 20 wt. % loading from 40 to 200, and a sphericity factor (S80) of at least 0.9, are disclosed, as well as methods for making these silica particles, and dentifrice compositions containing the silica particles.

Provided is a synthetic graphite material, in which a size L (112) of a crystallite in a c-axis direction as calculated from a (112) diffraction line obtained by an X-ray wide angle diffraction method is in a range of 4 to 30 nm, a surface area based on a volume as calculated by a laser diffraction type particle size distribution measuring device is in a range of 0.22 to 1.70 m.sup.2/cm.sup.3, an oil absorption is in a range of 67 to 147 mL/100 g, and a nitrogen adsorption specific surface area is in a range of 3.1 to 8.2 m.sup.2/g.