The present invention relates to an artificial marble having a total transmittance of 6 or greater and 20 or less when the total transmittance is measured using a turbidimeter (NDH 5000 available from Nippon Denshoku) for an artificial marble sample with a size of 7 cm in width, 7 cm in length, and 1.5 cm in thickness.

The invention relates to a process of producing a dental zirconia restoration, the dental zirconia restoration having an outer and an inner surface, the process comprising the step of firing a porous dental zirconia restoration and a glass until the porous dental zirconia restoration is sintered, the glass being located during the firing step on at least a portion of the outer surface of the porous dental zirconia restoration, wherein the zirconia material of the porous dental zirconia restoration and the glass are selected such that during the firing step the glass infiltrates the pores of the porous dental zirconia restoration to an extent of not more than 5 m in depth. The invention also relates to a sintered dental zirconia restoration obtainable by such a process and a kit of parts comprising a porous dental zirconia mill blank and a surface treating agent containing a glass for use in such a process.

A method to provide compressive stress to substrates includes depositing a film on a ceramic substrate at a deposition temperature (Td) to form an article, the film having a difference relative to the ceramic substrate at Td in a coefficient thermal expansion (CTE) of at least 1.010.sup.6/K and a difference in a refractive index >0.10. At least a portion of the thickness the film is converted in at least one of composition, phase and microstructure by lowering or raising the temperature from Td to reach a changed temperature (Tc) that is at least 100 C. different from Td. The film converting conditions result in the converted film portion providing a difference in refractive index at the Tc between the converted film and the ceramic substrate of |0.10|. The temperature of the article is then lowered to room temperature.

A method including the steps of exposing a substrate to focused laser irradiation at a preselected series of locations that trace a subset of the substrate volume that is connected to the surface of the substrate, removing the substrate material from the exposed preselected series of locations to create within the substrate at least one cavity that is connected to the surface of the substrate, immersing the cavity-containing substrate in an appropriate atmosphere such as a selected gas or vacuum and, within this atmosphere, contacting the substrate surface with the molten castable material surface at locations where the cavity or cavities emerges from the substrate, applying pressure to the castable material to cause it to infiltrate the substrate cavities, and solidifying the castable material within the cavities.

An optical component according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a translucent substrate, one or more intermediate layers stacked on at least one of an incident surface and an exit surface of the substrate, and a surface layer stacked on an outermost layer of the one or more intermediate layers, the surface layer containing diamond-like carbon as a main component. At least one intermediate layer among the one or more intermediate layers contains silicon as a main component, and the intermediate layer containing silicon as a main component has an oxygen content of 10 atomic % or less.

A method for producing a transparent polycrystalline ceramic includes forming at least one planar transparent region near a surface within the ceramic, wherein the at least one planar transparent region has a lower thermal expansion coefficient than other regions of the ceramic. The method further includes generating compressive stresses in the at least one planar transparent region near the surface after a thermal treatment and cooling.

A fireproof, translucent, flexible coated fabric composite materials for use in fire curtains. The composite material meets or exceeds regulatory requirements in terms of fire endurance and allows transmissivity of necessary amounts of light. The process of the present disclosure combines a silica fabric with a special refractory index controlled resin. This unique combination of materials can transform an opaque high temperature fabric into a translucent, and even transparent, composite which as the ability to resist high temperature, flame and smoke penetration that fills a needed gap in technology between visibility and fire resistance in the field of fire and smoke curtains used in civil construction.

A ceramic and polymer composite including: a first continuous phase comprising a sintered porous ceramic having a solid volume of from 50 to 85 vol % and a porosity or a porous void space of from 50 to 15 vol %, based on the total volume of the composite; and a second continuous polymer phase situated in the porous void space of the sintered porous ceramic. Also disclosed is a composite article, a method of making the composite, and a method of using the composite.

Disclosed are a semi-transparent ceramic sheet decorated through ink light-absorbance and a preparation method thereof. The semi-transparent ceramic sheet comprises a semi-transparent green body, an inner inkjet pattern layer infiltrating into the semi-transparent green body from an upper surface of the semi-transparent green body, a decoloration glaze layer located on the upper surface, and a surface pattern layer located on the decoloration glaze layer. The decoloration glaze layer is capable of decoloring the ink of the inner inkjet pattern layer. The semi-transparent ceramic sheet is provided with the decoloration glaze layer so that the inkjet decoration of the inner inkjet pattern layer cannot be displayed on the surface, and the decorative pattern on the surface of the green body is the surface pattern layer and the inner inkjet pattern layer is completely in the inner layer of the green body.

A ceramic and polymer composite including: a first continuous phase comprising a sintered porous ceramic having a solid volume of from 50 to 85 vol % and a porosity or a porous void space of from 50 to 15 vol %, based on the total volume of the composite; and a second continuous polymer phase situated in the porous void space of the sintered porous ceramic. Also disclosed is a composite article, a method of making the composite, and a method of using the composite.