The disclosure relates to tiles or slabs comprising a fired ceramic material which has a chemical composition with a particular combination of oxides; to a method for the manufacture of said tiles or slabs; and to the use thereof for construction or decoration applications.

An annealing separator composition for a grain-oriented electrical steel sheet according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention contains a composite metal oxide containing Mg and a metal M, wherein the metal M is one or more of Be, Ca, Ba, Sr, Sn, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Cu, and Zn.

Methods and apparatus for producing bulk silicon carbide and producing silicon carbide coatings are provided herein. The method includes feeding a mixture of silicon carbide and ceramic into a plasma sprayer. The plasma generates a stream towards a substrate forming a bulk material or optionally a coating on the substrate such as an article upon contact therewith. In embodiments, the substrate can be removed, leaving a component part fabricated from bulk silicon carbide.

A ceramic electronic device includes a dielectric layer and an internal electrode layer that are alternately stacked, wherein the dielectric layer contains yttria-stabilized zirconia and (Ca.sub.x1Ba.sub.x2Sr.sub.1-x1-x2)(Ti.sub.yZr.sub.1-y)O.sub.3 (0.6≤x1≤0.9, 0≤x2≤0.1, 0≤y≤0.1) as a main component, and wherein, in the dielectric layer, a concentration of the yttria-stabilized zirconia when a total amount of Ti and Zr is 100 mol % is 0.5 mol % or more and 5.0 mol % or less.

A multilayer ceramic capacitor includes a multilayer body including dielectric layers, inner-electrode layers, and outer electrodes coupled to the inner-electrode layers. The multilayer body includes Ba, Ti, Ca, Mg, Zr, and R, and when the Ti content is defined as 100 parts by mole, the relative amounts are as follows: Ca, 0.03 parts by mole or more and 0.15 parts by mole or less, Mg, 0.01 parts by mole or more and 0.09 parts by mole or less, R, 2.5 parts by mole or more and 8.4 parts by mole or less; Zr, 0.05 parts by mole or more and 3.00 parts by mole or less: Si, 0.5 parts by mole or more and 4.0 parts by mole or less; and P, 0.005 parts by mole or more and 0.500 parts by mole or less. Ca is in a vicinity of the center of crystal grains contained in the dielectric layers.

Provided is alumina material comprising alumina and zirconium, wherein in a radial distribution function obtained by Fourier-transforming an extended X-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS) spectrum of a K absorption edge of the zirconium in the alumina material, the value of I.sub.B/I.sub.A is 0.5 or less where I.sub.A is a maximum intensity among the intensities of peaks present at 0.1 nm to 0.2 nm, and I.sub.B is a maximum intensity among the intensities of peaks present at 0.28 nm to 0.35 nm.

A ceramic electronic component includes a body, including a dielectric layer and an internal electrode. The dielectric layer includes a plurality of dielectric grains, and at least one of the plurality of dielectric grains has a core-dual shell structure having a core and a dual shell. The dual shell includes a first shell, surrounding at least a portion of the core, and a second shell, surrounding at least a portion of the first shell. The dual shell includes different types of rare earth elements R1 and R2, and R2.sub.S1/R1.sub.S1 is 0.01 or less and R2.sub.S2/R1.sub.S1 is 0.5 to 3.0, where R1.sub.S1 and R1.sub.S2 denote concentrations of R1 included in the first shell and the second shell, respectively, and R2.sub.S1 and R2.sub.S2 denote concentrations of R2 included in the first shell and the second shell, respectively.

Sintered product having a relative density of greater than 90%, with, to more than 80% of the volume thereof, a stack of flat ceramic platelets, the assembly of the platelets having a mean thickness of less than 3 μm, having a width of greater than 50 mm, and including more than 20% of alumina, as a percentage on the basis of the weight of the product. The width of the product is the largest dimension measured in the plane in which the length of the product is measured, along a direction perpendicular to the direction of the length. The length of the product is the largest dimension thereof in a plane parallel to the general plane in which the platelets extend.

A coating material for a silicon carbide-based honeycomb structure, the coating material including from 20 to 75% by mass of ceramic powder (A), the ceramic powder (A) including from 55 to 95% by mass of silicon carbide and from 5 to 30% by mass of silicon dioxide as chemical components.

A multilayer ceramic capacitor (10) has a laminate body (20) constituted by dielectric layers (17) and internal electrode layers (18) stacked alternately. The dielectric layers (17) contain (Ba.sub.(1-x-y)Ca.sub.xSr.sub.y).sub.m(Ti.sub.(1-z)Zr.sub.z)O.sub.3, where 0.03≤x≤0.16, 0≤y≤0.02, 0<z≤0.02, 0.99≤m≤1.02, as a primary component, and an R oxide (R is a rare earth element) by 1.0 to 4.0 mol in equivalent element, an Mg compound by 0.2 to 2.5 mol in equivalent element, an Mn compound by 0.1 to 1.0 mol in equivalent element, a Zr compound by 0.1 to 2.0 mol in equivalent element, a V compound by 0.05 to 0.3 mol in equivalent element, and an Si compound by 0.2 to 5.0 mol in equivalent element, per 100 mol of the primary component. The multilayer ceramic capacitor can offer excellent DC bias properties and ensure high reliability.