Vessels such as crucibles, pans, open cups and saggars, containing a monolithic ceramic material, and a ceramic matrix composite, wherein the monolithic ceramic material is an inner tart. A method for making oxide materials that can be utilized in the contact with corrosive materials and that allows for higher conversions in a given heating process.

A ceramic material, a varistor and methods for forming a ceramic material and a varistor are disclosed. In an embodiment, a ceramic material includes ZnO as a main component and additives selected from the group consisting of an Al.sup.3+-containing solution, a Ba.sup.2+-containing solution, and at least one compound containing a metal element, wherein the metal element is selected from the group consisting of Bi, Sb, Co, Mn, Ni, Y, and Cr.

The present disclosure relates to solid electrolyte containing MgO partially stabilized zirconia doped with at least one of Mn and Co.

The invention provides a dual component lithium-rich layered oxide positive electrode material for a secondary battery, the material consisting of a single-phase lithium metal oxide with space group R-3m and having the general formula Li.sub.1+.sub.bN.sub.1bO.sub.2, wherein 0.155b0.25 and N=Ni.sub.xMn.sub.yCO.sub.zZr.sub.cA.sub.d, with 0.10x0.40, 0.30y0.80, 0<z0.20, 0.005c0.03, and 0d0.10, and wherein x+y+z+c+d=1, with A being a dopant comprising at least one element, and the material further consisting of a Li.sub.2ZrO.sub.3 component.

A method is described of producing a catalyst-containing composite oxygen ion membrane and a catalyst-containing composite oxygen ion membrane in which a porous fuel oxidation layer and a dense separation layer and optionally, a porous surface exchange layer are formed on a porous support from mixtures of (Ln.sub.1?xA.sub.x).sub.wCr.sub.1?yB.sub.yO.sub.3?? and a doped zirconia. Adding certain catalyst metals into the fuel oxidation layer not only enhances the initial oxygen flux, but also reduces the degradation rate of the oxygen flux over long-term operation. One of the possible reasons for the improved flux and stability is that the addition of the catalyst metal reduces the chemical reaction between the (Ln.sub.1?xA.sub.x).sub.wCr.sub.1?yB.sub.yO.sub.3?? and the zirconia phases during membrane fabrication and operation, as indicated by the X-ray diffraction results.

A die or piston of a spark plasma sintering apparatus, wherein the die or piston is made from graphite and the outer surfaces of the die or piston are coated with a silicon carbide layer with a thickness of 1 to 10 micrometres, the silicon carbide layer being further optionally coated with one or more other layer(s) made from a carbide other than silicon carbide chosen from hafnium carbide, tantalum carbide and titanium carbide, the other layer(s) each having a thickness of 1 to 10 micrometres. A spark plasma sintering (SPS) apparatus comprising the die and two of the pistons, defining a sintering, densification or assembly chamber capable of receiving a powder to be sintered, a part to be densified, or parts to be assembled. A method of sintering a powder, densifying a part, or assembling two parts by means of a method of spark plasma sintering (SPS) in an oxidising atmosphere, using the spark plasma sintering (SPS) apparatus.

An NTC ceramic part, an electronic component for inrush current limiting, and a method for manufacturing an electronic component are disclosed. In an embodiment, an NTC ceramic part for use in an electronic component for inrush current limiting is disclosed, wherein the NTC ceramic part has an electrical resistance in the m? range at a temperature of 25? C. and/or at room temperature.

The present invention discloses a multivalent manganese oxide filler, a preparation method therefor, and an application thereof. The preparation method comprises the following steps: step 1: adding a Eucalyptus robusta Smith leaf extract into a potassium permanganate solution for oxidation reaction, and stirring to finally form a suspension; step 2: sequentially filtering and drying the suspension in the step 1 to obtain a sintering precursor; and step 3: sintering the sintering precursor to obtain the multivalent manganese oxide filler. According to the present invention, through the combination of oxidation reaction and sintering reaction in the present invention, the multivalent manganese oxide filler containing manganese (II), manganese (III) and manganese (IV) is prepared, and the filler is loose and porous; in addition, the oxidation reaction and the sintering reaction are combined in the present invention, so that the process difficulty of preparing the multivalent manganese oxide is reduced.

In one aspect, the disclosure relates to thermoelectric ceramic oxide compositions comprising a CaMnO.sub.3 ceramic. In a further aspect, the disclosed thermoelectric ceramic oxide compositions can dramatically increase the energy conversion efficiency of thermoelectric through a combination of modifying the chemistry of precursor materials, and simultaneously introducing a metal oxide liquid phase during sintering. In a further aspect, the present disclosure pertains to thermoelectric ceramic oxide compositions comprising a metal doped CaMnO.sub.3 having with a metal oxide grain boundary phase; wherein the metal is selected from group 13, group 14, group 15, group 16, or a rare earth element. In a still further aspect, the disclosure relates to methods for making the thermoelectric ceramic oxide materials. This abstract is intended as a scanning tool for purposes of searching in the particular art and is not intended to be limiting of the present disclosure.

An NTC component comprising a first electrode (1) and a second electrode (2) is specified. The NTC component further comprises an NTC element (3) disposed between the first electrode (1) and the second electrode (2), wherein the NTC element (3) comprises a ceramic having the general composition AB.sub.2O.sub.4, and where A and B each comprise one or more of the materials Mn, Ni, Co and Cu, and B additionally comprises one or more of the materials Fe, Y, Pr, Al, In, Ga and Sb.