An electrically conducting material including a substrate composed of copper or a copper alloy, and a coating composed of at least one layer. The coating has an outermost layer consisting to an extent of at least 90 vol % of an intermetallic phase which is or includes Cu.sub.6Sn.sub.5. The surface of the outermost layer that faces away from the substrate has insular, silver-rich precipitations with an area fraction of 7 to 20%.

The invention is directed to the use of electrolytic bronze deposits as substitutes for the noble metal electroplating of electronic circuits, e.g. for use in electronic payment cards and identity cards. The invention also relates to a novel layer sequence of bronze layers.

The invention is directed to the use of electrolytic bronze deposits as substitutes for the noble metal electroplating of electronic circuits, e.g. for use in electronic payment cards and identity cards. The invention also relates to a novel layer sequence of bronze layers.

Metal compositions and production processes are described. A process for the production of a metal composition includes a first distillation step separating off by evaporation primarily lead from a solder mixture of lead, tin, and antimony, thereby producing as a first concentrated lead stream. The process includes a second distillation step separating primarily lead and antimony from the metal composition, thereby producing a second concentrated lead stream and a second bottom product. The method also includes a third distillation step separating primarily lead and antimony from the second concentrated lead stream, thereby producing a third concentrated lead stream and a third bottom product.

Metal compositions and production processes are described. A process for the production of a metal composition includes a first distillation step separating off by evaporation primarily lead from a solder mixture of lead, tin, and antimony, thereby producing as a first concentrated lead stream. The process includes a second distillation step separating primarily lead and antimony from the metal composition, thereby producing a second concentrated lead stream and a second bottom product. The method also includes a third distillation step separating primarily lead and antimony from the second concentrated lead stream, thereby producing a third concentrated lead stream and a third bottom product.

A negative electrode active material which has a ternary alloy composition represented by SiSn-M (M is one or two or more transition metal elements) and has a microstructure which has a first phase (silicide phase) having a silicide of a transition metal as a main component and a second phase partially containing Sn and having amorphous or low crystalline silicon as a main component, and further has partially a plurality of independent first phases and partially a eutectic structure of the first phase and the second phase is used for an electric device. The negative electrode active material improves cycle durability of an electric device such as a lithium ion secondary battery.

A negative electrode active material which has a ternary alloy composition represented by SiSn-M (M is one or two or more transition metal elements) and has a microstructure which has a first phase (silicide phase) having a silicide of a transition metal as a main component and a second phase partially containing Sn and having amorphous or low crystalline silicon as a main component, and further has partially a plurality of independent first phases and partially a eutectic structure of the first phase and the second phase is used for an electric device. The negative electrode active material improves cycle durability of an electric device such as a lithium ion secondary battery.

A solder alloy includes 18 wt % to 28 wt % of indium, 44.5 wt % to 54.5 wt % of bismuth, greater than 0 wt % and not more than 1.45 wt % of zirconium, and the balance being tin, based on 100 wt % of the solder alloy.

A solder alloy includes 18 wt % to 28 wt % of indium, 44.5 wt % to 54.5 wt % of bismuth, greater than 0 wt % and not more than 1.45 wt % of zirconium, and the balance being tin, based on 100 wt % of the solder alloy.

There is provided a thermoelectric conversion material made of a full-Heusler alloy and capable of enhancing figure of merit. In order to solve the above problem, the thermoelectric conversion material is made of the full-Heusler alloy represented by the following composition formula: (Fe.sub.1-xM1.sub.x).sub.2+(Ti.sub.1-yM2.sub.y).sub.1+(A.sub.1-zM3.sub.z).sub.1+. A composition in a ternary phase diagram of FeTi-A is inside a hexagon having points (50, 37, 13), (45, 30, 25), (39.5, 25, 35.5), (50, 14, 36), (54, 21, 25), and (55.5, 25, 19.5) as apexes. Further, an amount of change VEC of an average valence electron number per atom VEC in the case of x=y=z=0 satisfies a relation 0<|VEC|0.2 or 0.2<|VEC|0.3.