An infrared-absorbing material is provided, the infrared-absorbing material including at least one kind of transition metal; and at least one kind of element selected from B, C, N, O, etc., as a ligand of the transition metal, wherein at a bottom part of a conduction band, a bottom band of the conduction band is formed, the bottom band of the conduction band being a band occupied by d orbitals of the transition metal or a band in which the d orbitals of the transition metal and p orbitals of the ligand are hybridized, at a top part of a valence band, a top band of the valence band is formed, the top band of the valence band being a band occupied by the p orbitals of the ligand or a band in which the p orbitals of the ligand and the d orbitals of the transition metal are hybridized, in two wavenumber directions or less, which are highly symmetric points in a Brillouin zone, the bottom band of the conduction band and the top band of the valence band are close to each other by less than 3.0 eV, in another wavenumber direction excluding the wavenumber direction in which the bottom band of the conduction band and the top band of the valence band are close to each other by less than 3.0 eV, a wide band gap structure, in which a band gap is 3.0 eV or more, is formed, and a plasma frequency is 2.5 eV or more and 10.0 eV or less.

Disclosed herein, in certain embodiments, are compounds, methods, tools, and abrasive materials comprising mixed transition metal dodecaborides.

Boride particles represented by a general formula XB, (where X is at least one kind of metal element selected from Y, La, Ce, Pr, Nd, Sm, Eu, Gd, Tb, Dy, Ho, Er, Tm, Yb, Lu, Sr, Ca, and m is a number indicating an amount of boron in the general formula) are provided, wherein an amount of carbon included in the boride particles is 0.2% by mass or less, as measured by a combustion-infrared absorption method.

Boride particles represented by a general formula XB, (where X is at least one kind of metal element selected from Y, La, Ce, Pr, Nd, Sm, Eu, Gd, Tb, Dy, Ho, Er, Tm, Yb, Lu, Sr, Ca, and m is a number indicating an amount of boron in the general formula) are provided, wherein an amount of carbon included in the boride particles is 0.2% by mass or less, as measured by a combustion-infrared absorption method.

A method of reducing color in an alkanolamine, the method comprising: contacting the alkanolamine with an amount of an aqueous solution effective to provide 5 to 1000 parts per million by weight of an alkali metal borohydride, based on parts by weight of the alkanolamine; and 0.5 to 10,000 parts per million by weight of an alkali metal hydroxide, based on parts by weight of the alkanolamine; preferably wherein the color-reduced alkanolamine is not distilled after the contacting.

A method of reducing color in an alkanolamine, the method comprising: contacting the alkanolamine with an amount of an aqueous solution effective to provide 5 to 1000 parts per million by weight of an alkali metal borohydride, based on parts by weight of the alkanolamine; and 0.5 to 10,000 parts per million by weight of an alkali metal hydroxide, based on parts by weight of the alkanolamine; preferably wherein the color-reduced alkanolamine is not distilled after the contacting.

Some embodiments include a method of producing metal diboride nanomaterials having thickness down to the atomic scale and lateral areas from 10 nm to over 1 m by preparing a mixture of a metal diboride and a suspending solution. The suspending solution can be an organic solvent or a solution containing water, and optionally can include a dispersion agent, such as a surfactant, a polymer, small molecule, or biopolymer. Further, the method includes exfoliating the metal diboride by exposing the mixture to ultrasonic energy, centrifuging the mixture forming supernatant that includes a dispersion of exfoliated metal diborides, and extracting the dispersion from the supernatant. Some embodiments include extracting the supernatant and casting the solution by diluting the dispersion with a second suspending solution that includes dissolved polymer. This can result in a composite film includes a dispersion of the exfoliated metal diborides and provides improved mechanical properties.

Some embodiments include a method of producing metal diboride nanomaterials having thickness down to the atomic scale and lateral areas from 10 nm to over 1 m by preparing a mixture of a metal diboride and a suspending solution. The suspending solution can be an organic solvent or a solution containing water, and optionally can include a dispersion agent, such as a surfactant, a polymer, small molecule, or biopolymer. Further, the method includes exfoliating the metal diboride by exposing the mixture to ultrasonic energy, centrifuging the mixture forming supernatant that includes a dispersion of exfoliated metal diborides, and extracting the dispersion from the supernatant. Some embodiments include extracting the supernatant and casting the solution by diluting the dispersion with a second suspending solution that includes dissolved polymer. This can result in a composite film includes a dispersion of the exfoliated metal diborides and provides improved mechanical properties.

In order to provide a zirconium boride that provides high caloric value at the time of its combustion with a compound having radicals such as perchlorate and can combust in a short period of time, while providing high physical stability, an amount of radical derived from lattice defect detected by ESR spectroscopy, is set to 0.110.sup.15 spin/mg or more.

In order to provide a zirconium boride that provides high caloric value at the time of its combustion with a compound having radicals such as perchlorate and can combust in a short period of time, while providing high physical stability, an amount of radical derived from lattice defect detected by ESR spectroscopy, is set to 0.110.sup.15 spin/mg or more.