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.

A heat-resistant member (1) according to the present disclosure contains alumina as a main component, and magnesium aluminate and boron. The content percentage of the magnesium aluminate at the surface is higher than the content percentage of the magnesium aluminate in a surface layer section located directly below the surface.

A method that enables fabrication of a machinable zirconia composite sintered body that is machinable in a sintered state while maintaining properties suited for dental use, in a shorter time than it is possible with conventional methods. A method for producing a machinable zirconia composite sintered body by fabricating a molded body with a raw material composition that includes 78 to 95 mol % of ZrO.sub.2 and 2.5 to 10 mol % of Y.sub.2O.sub.3, and also includes 2 to 8 mol % of Nb.sub.2O.sub.5 and/or 3 to 10 mol % of Ta.sub.2O.sub.5, and in which ZrO.sub.2 predominantly includes a monoclinic crystal system and sintering the molded body.

The invention relates to a process for the preparation of a dental restoration, in which an oxide ceramic material is (a) subjected to at least one heat treatment, and (b) cooled, wherein the cooling comprises (b1) a first cooling step with the cooling rate T1 and (b2) a second cooling step with the cooling rate T2 and wherein the absolute value of the cooling rate T2 is less than the absolute value of the cooling rate T1.

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.

Set forth herein are pellets, thin films, and monoliths of lithium-stuffed garnet electrolytes having engineered surfaces. These engineered surfaces have a list of advantageous properties including, but not limited to, low surface area resistance, high Li.sup.+ ion conductivity, low tendency for lithium dendrites to form within or thereupon when the electrolytes are used in an electrochemical cell. Other advantages include voltage stability and long cycle life when used in electrochemical cells as a separator or a membrane between the positive and negative electrodes. Also set forth herein are methods of making these electrolytes including, but not limited to, methods of annealing these electrolytes under controlled atmosphere conditions. Set forth herein, additionally, are methods of using these electrolytes in electrochemical cells and devices. The instant disclosure further includes electrochemical cells which incorporate the lithium-stuffed garnet electrolytes set forth herein.

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.

A multilayer electronic component includes a multilayer body including dielectric layers and inner electrode layers, the multilayer body including an electrode facing portion in which the inner electrode layers are laminated to face each other with the dielectric layers interposed therebetween. The multilayer body has a thickness of at least about 1.5 mm in a lamination direction, a length of at least about 3.0 mm, and a width of at least about 1.5 mm. Each of the dielectric layers includes Ba, Ti, and Cl. A Cl concentration C.sub.1 in the entire electrode facing portion satisfies about 10 wtppm<C.sub.1<about 50 wtppm. On an imaginary central axis line, a Cl concentration C.sub.2 in a central portion of the electrode facing portion and a Cl concentration C.sub.3 in both end portions of the electrode facing portion satisfy about 0.5C.sub.2≤C.sub.3<C.sub.2.

Coated zirconia fine particle containing a zirconia fine particle and a coating layer coating the surface of the fine particle. The coating layer includes one or more metal elements selected from Mg, Ca, Al and rare-earth elements, and the coated zirconia fine particle has an average particle size of 3 to 100 nm and a specific surface area of 20 to 500 m.sup.2/g.

Herein disclosed is a method of treating a component of a fuel cell, which includes the step of exposing the component of the fuel cell to a source of electromagnetic radiation (EMR). The component comprises a first material. The EMR has a wavelength ranging from 10 to 1500 nm and the EMR has a minimum energy density of 0.1 Joule/cm2. Preferably, the treatment process has one or more of the following effects: heating, drying, curing, sintering, annealing, sealing, alloying, evaporating, restructuring, foaming. In an embodiment, the substrate is a component in a fuel cell. Such component comprises an anode, a cathode, an electrolyte, a catalyst, a barrier layer, a interconnect, a reformer, or reformer catalyst. In an embodiment, the substrate is a layer in a fuel cell or a portion of a layer in a fuel cell or a combination of layers in a fuel cell or a combination of partial layers in a fuel cell.