Provided is an alkali metal titanate which, when used as a constituent material of a friction material, is excellent in heat resistance and friction force and capable of effectively suppressing wear of a mating material disposed to face the friction material. The alkali metal titanate includes a sodium atom and a silicon atom. The content of the sodium atom is 2.0 to 8.5 mass %. The content of the silicon atom is 0.2 to 2.5 mass %. The ratio of the content of an alkali metal atom other than the sodium atom to the content of the sodium atom is 0 to 6.

A composite has a solid-state structure, silicate, lithium ions, and at least one paramagnetic or diamagnetic element, which is different from lithium silicon, and oxygen. The solid-state structure has two areas in which the solid-state structure forms an identical crystal orientation. The areas are arranged at a distance of at least one millimeter from each other. A method has a quenching step in which a solid-state structure of a composite is produced, which differs from an ambient temperature solid-state structure. The composite produced by the method has silicate, lithium ions, and an element that is different from lithium, silicon, and oxygen. The method produces at least one gram of the phase pure composite in the quenching step.

A particle material that has high dispersibility in a dispersion medium such as toluene having high hydrophobicity, and a slurry composition in which the particle material is used, are provided for solving the problem. A surface-modified particle material of the present invention includes: a particle material formed of an inorganic material; and a surface treatment agent formed of a silane compound having a first functional group that has any of C, N, and O atoms away over five or more atoms from Si to which an alkoxide is bound, the surface treatment agent allowing surface treatment of the particle material in such an amount that a degree of hydrophobicity becomes not less than 30%. Dispersibility is enhanced also in a dispersion medium having high hydrophobicity in a case where a functional group having a predetermined structure is introduced so as to impart predetermined or higher hydrophobicity.

Methods are disclosed for dispersing nanoparticles in solvents, involving the use of a cationic species and an anionic species, where at least one of the ionic species is soluble in the nonpolar solvent and the other ionic species has a relatively strong affinity for the surface of the nanoparticles. The cationic species and the anionic species together form a cluster of ion pairs shielding the nanoparticles and enhancing their dispersibility in the nonpolar solvent.

Methods are disclosed for dispersing nanoparticles in solvents, involving the use of a cationic species and an anionic species, where at least one of the ionic species is soluble in the nonpolar solvent and the other ionic species has a relatively strong affinity for the surface of the nanoparticles. The cationic species and the anionic species together form a cluster of ion pairs shielding the nanoparticles and enhancing their dispersibility in the nonpolar solvent.

Disclosed is a degradable film (1) in which a barrier layer (3) is disposed on a surface of a water-soluble polymer layer (2). The water-soluble polymer layer (2) is made of a water-soluble polymer such as polyvinyl alcohol or polyvinyl pyrrolidone. The barrier layer (3) is made of silicon oxide or silicon oxynitride. The barrier layer (3) is formed on the water-soluble polymer layer (2) by a CVD process with the supply of a raw material gas containing a precursor of a substance that forms the barrier layer (3), an ozone gas with an oxygen concentration of 20 vol % or higher and an unsaturated hydrocarbon gas to the water-soluble polymer layer (2).

Porous amorphous silica can be obtained from siliceous plant matter containing non-siliceous inorganic substances. The siliceous plant matter is soaked in an aqueous solution which includes a chelating agent. The chelating agent is present in an amount which helps to extract at least some of the non-siliceous inorganic matter. The aqueous solution is then separated from the siliceous plant matter. Beneficial properties are imparted to the siliceous plant matter by controlling the amount of at least one preselected non-siliceous inorganic substance in the siliceous plant matter. At the end of the process, the siliceous plant matter is heat treated in the presence of oxygen at a temperature to produce the resulting amorphous silica having the beneficial properties.

Stable suspensions of silica particles in water-immiscible polar organic liquids are provided.

Stable suspensions of silica particles in water-immiscible polar organic liquids are provided.

The present invention describes an integrated process for carbon dioxide capture, sequestration and utilisation, which comprises: a) providing an aqueous slurry comprising an aqueous solution and a particulate solid comprising an activated magnesium silicate mineral; b) in a dissolution stage, contacting a CO.sub.2-containing gas stream with the aqueous slurry to dissolve magnesium from the mineral to provide a magnesium ion enriched aqueous solution and a magnesium depleted solid residue; c) recovering at least a portion of the magnesium depleted solid residue; d) in a separate acid treatment stage, reacting the recovered portion of the magnesium depleted solid residue with a solution comprising a mineral acid or acid salt to further dissolve magnesium and other metals and to provide an acid-treated solid residue; e) recovering the acid-treated solid residue; and f) in a separate precipitation stage, precipitating magnesium carbonate from the magnesium ion enriched aqueous solution.