A cerium-zirconium based mixed oxide composition have: (a) a Ce:Zr molar ratio of 1 or less, and (b) a cerium oxide content of 10-50% by weight. The composition has (i) a surface area of at least 18 m.sup.2/g, and a total pore volume as measured by N.sub.2 physisorption of at least 0.11 cm.sup.3/g, after ageing at 1100° C. in an air atmosphere for 6 hours, (ii) a surface area of at least 42 m.sup.2/g, and a total pore volume as measured by N.sub.2 physisorption of at least 0.31 cm.sup.3/g, after ageing at 1000° C. in an air atmosphere for 4 hours, and (iii) Dynamic Oxygen Storage Capacity (D-OSC) value as measured by H.sub.2-TIR of greater than 500 μmol/g at 600° C. after aging at 800° C. in an air atmosphere for 2 hours. A process contacts the exhaust gas with the composition Another process is for preparing the composition.

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.

To provide a method for producing lanthanum hexaboride-containing composite particles which are capable of forming a formed product having sufficiently high transparency and which are excellent in weather resistance, by a simple operation without calcination treatment at high temperature, and a method for producing a formed product using it. Also provided is a method for producing composite particles, which involves: reacting at least one silica precursor selected from a tetraalkoxysilane, its hydrolysate and its condensate, in the presence of lanthanum hexaboride particles, a volatile base, water and an organic solvent to obtain a first reaction mixture, and reacting the first reaction mixture with at least one silicon compound selected from an amino-modified silicone, an alkylsilane and an aminosilane, or the silicon compound and the silica precursor added, to obtain a second reaction mixture containing lanthanum hexaboride-containing composite particles.

The present disclosure is directed to providing a carbon film having an excellent shield performance against electromagnetic waves. The carbon film of the present disclosure is a carbon film made of a carbon nanotube assembly, wherein a pore distribution curve of the carbon film indicating the relationship between the pore size and the Log differential pore capacity obtained from an adsorption isotherm at 77 K of liquid nitrogen based on the Barrett-Joyner-Halenda method has a peak in which the Log differential pore capacity is maximized within a pore size range of 10 nm or more and 100 nm or less, and the value of the Log differential pore capacity at the peak is 1.2 cm.sup.3/g or more.

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 carbon nanotube assembly satisfies at least one of the following conditions (1) to (3): (1) an FT-IR spectrum of a CNT dispersion obtained by dispersing the CNT assembly has a peak based on plasmon resonance of the CNTs in a wave number range of greater than 300 cm.sup.−1 and 2000 cm.sup.−1 or less; (2) the highest peak in a differential pore capacity distribution of the CNT assembly is located within a pore size range of more than 100 nm and less than 400 nm; and (3) a two-dimensional spatial frequency spectrum of an electronic micrographic image of the CNT assembly has at least one peak within a range of 1 μm.sup.−1 or more and 100 μm.sup.−1 or less.

A zirconia-based porous body including an oxide of a rare earth element, in which when a pore volume in a pore distribution range of 30 nm or more and 200 nm or less after heating at 1150° C. for 12 hours under atmospheric pressure is defined as pore volume A and a pore volume in a pore distribution range of 30 nm or more and 200 nm or less before heating is defined as pore volume B, the pore volume A is 0.10 ml/g or more and 0.40 ml/g or less, and a pore volume retention ratio X in a pore distribution range of 30 nm or more and 200 nm or less represented by a formula [[(pore volume A)/(pore volume B)]×100] is 25% or more and 95% or less.

A method for producing mesoporous magnesium hydroxide nanoplates involving solvothermal treatment of a solution of a magnesium salt, a base, a glycol, and water is disclosed. The method does not use a surfactant or template in the solvothermal treatment. The method yields mesoporous nanoparticles of magnesium hydroxide having a plate-like morphology with a diameter of 20 nm to 100 nm, a mean pore diameter of 2 to 10 nm, a surface area of 50 to 70 m.sup.2/g, and a type-III nitrogen adsorption-desorption BET isotherm with a H3 hysteresis loop. An antibacterial composition containing the mesoporous magnesium hydroxide nanoplates is also disclosed. A method for reducing nitroaromatic compounds with a reducing agent and the mesoporous magnesium hydroxide nanoplates as a catalyst is also disclosed.

A method of making an oxygen storage material (OSM) with developed mesoporosity having a small fraction of pores <10 nm (fresh or aged), and resistance to thermal sintering is provided. This OSM is suitable for use as a catalyst and catalyst support. The method of making this oxygen storage material (OSM) includes the preparation of a solution containing pre-polymerized zirconium oligomers, cerium, rare earth and transition metal salts; the interaction of this solution with a complexing agent that has an affinity towards zirconium; the formation of a zirconium-based precursor; and the co-precipitation of all constituent metal hydroxide with abase.

The present invention relates to a method for producing a silica aerogel blanket and an apparatus for producing the same, which are capable of easily controlling the physical properties of a silica aerogel blanket by separately injecting silica sol and a gelation catalyst to control gelation time, improving aerogel pore structure to be uniform and improving thermal insulation performance by sufficiently and uniformly impregnating the silica and the gelation catalyst into a blanket, reducing the loss of silica sol and gelation catalyst by allowing the silica sol and the gelation catalyst to pass on an ascending slope before gelation to remove any excessive silica sol and gelation catalyst exceeding an appropriate impregnation amount, and providing a silica aerogel blanket having less process trouble, and less dust.