A pigment granule having an irregular polyhedral shape with rounded edges and a method for the production of the granules by the use of a high speed agitated granulating machine provided with agitating means for agitating a pigment substance for granulation, spray means for spraying or injecting a binding liquid on the pigment substance while the mixture is processed through the turbulizer and drying means for drying the particles, characterized by effecting the production by causing the means to act on the substance for granulation simultaneously thereby performing the agitating and granulation.

Methods are disclosed for producing an organic functionalized solid inorganic substrate, a surface of the inorganic substrate comprising a hydroxide and/or an oxide comprising an element M, the element M being a metal or a metalloid. The method includes drying the surface; optionally removing protons from the surface; and contacting the surface with an organometallic reagent comprising at least one organic functional moiety, thereby obtaining the organic functionalized inorganic substrate, the at least one organic functional moiety being attached to the element M of the hydroxide and/or the oxide by means of a direct M-C bond. The drying step includes contacting the surface with a flow comprising an inert gas. The organic functionalized inorganic substrate obtained by the method may be used as a membrane, a catalyst, a sorbent, a sensor or an electronic component, or as a substrate in filtration, adsorption, chromatography and/or separation processes.

A method for producing a silicon-containing oxide-coated aluminum nitride particle that maintains the high thermal conductivity of aluminum nitride particles, have excellent moisture resistance, and do not easily aggregate. A method for producing a silicon-containing oxide-coated aluminum nitride particle including an aluminum nitride particle and a silicon-containing oxide film that covers a surface of the aluminum nitride particle. The method includes a vapor-depositing an organic silicone compound including a specific structure on the surface of the aluminum nitride particle to obtain the aluminum nitride particle covered with the organic silicone compound under a nitrogen atmosphere, and a partial pressure of the organic silicone compound in the nitrogen atmosphere is 2.6?10.sup.2 to 3.9?10.sup.3 Pa, and heating the aluminum nitride particle covered with the organic silicone compound at a temperature of 300? C. or higher and lower than 1000? C.

A filler for electronic material according to the present invention has a silica particle material produced by a dry method, wherein D50 is 0.2 ?m or greater and 7.0 ?m or less. Further, in the filler for electronic material according to the present invention, (BET specific surface area)/(theoretical specific surface area calculated from D50) is 0.85 or greater and 1.2 or less (requirement 1), and/or D10/D50 is 0.55 or greater and 0.75 or less (requirement 2). When at least one of the requirements 1 and 2 is satisfied, electric characteristics such as a Df value are improved. Here, the BET specific surface area is a value measured by using nitrogen, and D50 is a 50 mass % cumulative diameter, i.e., a median diameter, and means a particle diameter at 50 mass % when the masses of particles are sequentially integrated from smaller particle diameters. Similarly, D10 is a 10 mass % cumulative diameter.

Thermoelectric (TE) nanocomposite material that includes at least one component consisting of nanocrystals. A TE nanocomposite material in accordance with the present invention can include, but is not limited to, multiple nanocrystalline structures, nanocrystal networks or partial networks, or multi-component materials, with some components forming connected interpenetrating networks including nanocrystalline networks. The TE nanocomposite material can be in the form of a bulk solid having semiconductor nanocrystallites that form an electrically conductive network within the material. In other embodiments, the TE nanocomposite material can be a nanocomposite thermoelectric material having one network of p-type or n-type semiconductor domains and a low thermal conductivity semiconductor or dielectric network or domains separating the p-type or n-type domains that provides efficient phonon scattering to reduce thermal conductivity while maintaining the electrical properties of the p-type or n-type semiconductor.

The present invention relates to crumbles comprising at least one calcium carbonate-containing material, a process for the preparation of the crumbles, an article comprising the crumbles as well as an use of the crumbles in paper making, paper coating, food, plastic, preferably films, more preferably blown films or breathable films, fibres, polyvinyl chloride, plastisols, thermosetting polymers, more preferably thermosetting unsaturated polyesters or thermosetting unsaturated polyurethanes, agricultural, paint, coatings, adhesives, sealants, pharmaceuticals, agricultural, construction and/or cosmetic applications.

A method for producing a barium titanate-based powder, the method including: step a of spraying a raw material including a barium titanate-based compound into a high-temperature field heated to a temperature equal to or higher than a melting point of the compound to form barium titanate-based particles; step b of washing a powder including the barium titanate-based particles formed in step a, or calcining a powder including the barium titanate-based particles formed in step a and then washing the calcined powder; and step c of calcining the washed powder obtained through step b.

This aluminum-oxide-based-composition-containing zirconium nitride powder contains particles each of which is mainly composed of zirconium nitride and has a surface to which an aluminum oxide-based composition partially adheres, in which the aluminum-oxide-based-composition-containing zirconium nitride powder contains aluminum in a proportion of greater than 1% by mass and 15% by mass or less in terms of a total content of 100% by mass, and has a specific surface area of 30 m.sup.2/g to 90 m.sup.2/g measured by a BET method. This powder has relatively high light shielding properties in a near infrared region with a wavelength of 1,000 nm, has excellent patterning and visible light shielding properties, and has favorable moisture resistance, when the powder is used to form a black patterned film as a black pigment.

The present invention relates to pearlescent pigments, to a process of manufacturing such pearlescent pigments based on a wet oxidation step as well as to the use of such pearlescent pigments.

The subject of the invention is a method for the production of pigment from filtration sludges containing manganese and iron and phosphates, characterised in that the filter sludge is sieved on a vibrating sieve, then the suspension is concentrated and dried to a water content below 8% w/w, after which the material is subjected to thermal treatment at a temperature in the range of 500-1200? C. for a period of 6-12 hours, and the obtained sinter is fragmented and optionally dried to a moisture level of 5%. The invention also relates to using the pigment produced by the foregoing method colouring construction ceramic products or as a colouring additive to the mass from which construction products are formed or as a colouring additive for concrete.