Thin films of precious metals such as platinum and gold have the required ability to withstand high temperatures, but in pure form can suffer from grain growth, agglomeration and dewetting at high temperature. Grain boundaries must therefore be pinned by alloying with other metals and/or by inclusion of non-metallic nanoparticles. While such bulk materials are known in the prior art, they have not existed previously as printable inks that can be deposited by additive manufacturing direct-write methods. These materials have been formulated for the first time as alloy and composite inks so that they may be applied by direct-write additive manufacturing techniques directly onto three-dimensional components or on high temperature substrates that can be adhered to complex components.

Thin films of precious metals such as platinum and gold have the required ability to withstand high temperatures, but in pure form can suffer from grain growth, agglomeration and dewetting at high temperature. Grain boundaries must therefore be pinned by alloying with other metals and/or by inclusion of non-metallic nanoparticles. While such bulk materials are known in the prior art, they have not existed previously as printable inks that can be deposited by additive manufacturing direct-write methods. These materials have been formulated for the first time as alloy and composite inks so that they may be applied by direct-write additive manufacturing techniques directly onto three-dimensional components or on high temperature substrates that can be adhered to complex components.

The invention relates to a method for manufacturing a composite component of a timepiece or of a jewelry part, the composite component comprising a porous ceramic part and a metallic material filling the pores of said ceramic part, said method comprising the steps of: providing a porous ceramic preform of the component, providing a metallic material, heating the metallic material to a temperature higher than the melting point of the metallic material, filling the pores of the ceramic preform with the molten metallic material, cooling the metallic material and the ceramic preform to obtain a solidified metallic material in the pores of the ceramic preform, and applying finishing treatments to obtain the composite component,

wherein said porous ceramic preform consists essentially of a material selected from the group consisting of Si.sub.3N.sub.4, SiO.sub.2 and mixtures thereof, and said metallic material is selected from the group consisting of gold, platinum, palladium metals and alloys of these metals.

The invention relates also to a composite component of a timepiece or of a jewelry part comprising a porous ceramic part and a metallic material filling the pores of said ceramic part, wherein said porous ceramic part consists essentially of a material selected from the group consisting of Si.sub.3N.sub.4, SO.sub.2 and mixtures thereof, and said metallic material which is selected from the group consisting of gold, platinum, palladium metals and alloys of these metals.

A method of producing a melt infiltrated ceramic matrix composite (CMC) article that includes the steps of: forming a ceramic fiber preform; optionally, rigidizing the ceramic fiber preform with a fiber interphase coating via a Chemical Vapor Infiltration (CVI) process, infiltrating a ceramic slurry into the porous body or preform, conducting one or more secondary operations, and finally, melt infiltrating the preform with molten silicon or a silicon alloy to form the CMC article. The infiltration of a ceramic slurry into a ceramic fiber preform to form a green body is performed along with the use of convection and/or conduction as heat transfer mechanisms, such that the ceramic slurry does not require the incorporation of a pre-gelation material in order for the slurry to remain within the green body during subsequent processing steps.

A ceramic device including a ceramic material, a patterned metal structure, and a surface activation material is provided. A surface of the ceramic material at least includes a first surface and a second surface that are not coplanar. The ceramic material has recesses on the surface thereof. The patterned metal structure is disposed on the first surface and the second surface. The surface activation material is disposed on a surface of the recesses and located at an interface between the ceramic material and the patterned metal structure.

A ceramic device including a ceramic material, a patterned metal structure, and a surface activation material is provided. A surface of the ceramic material at least includes a first surface and a second surface that are not coplanar. The ceramic material has recesses on the surface thereof. The patterned metal structure is disposed on the first surface and the second surface. The surface activation material is disposed on a surface of the recesses and located at an interface between the ceramic material and the patterned metal structure.

An apparatus includes a ceramic matrix composite (CMC) component and an interface coating on the CMC component, wherein the interface coating includes a layer of at least one of the following compositions: 40-50 wt % Nb, 28-42 wt % Al, 4-15 wt % Cr, 1-2 wt % Si; 90-92 wt % Mo, 4-5 wt % Si, 4-5 wt % B; or 60-80 wt % V, 20-30 wt % Cr, 2-15 wt % Ti.

An apparatus includes a ceramic matrix composite (CMC) component and an interface coating on the CMC component, wherein the interface coating includes a layer of at least one of the following compositions: 40-50 wt % Nb, 28-42 wt % Al, 4-15 wt % Cr, 1-2 wt % Si; 90-92 wt % Mo, 4-5 wt % Si, 4-5 wt % B; or 60-80 wt % V, 20-30 wt % Cr, 2-15 wt % Ti.

A ceramic device including a ceramic material, a patterned metal structure, and a surface activation material is provided. A surface of the ceramic material at least includes a first surface and a second surface that are not coplanar. The ceramic material has recesses on the surface thereof. The patterned metal structure is disposed on the first surface and the second surface. The surface activation material is disposed on a surface of the recesses and located at an interface between the ceramic material and the patterned metal structure.

A ceramic device including a ceramic material, a patterned metal structure, and a surface activation material is provided. A surface of the ceramic material at least includes a first surface and a second surface that are not coplanar. The ceramic material has recesses on the surface thereof. The patterned metal structure is disposed on the first surface and the second surface. The surface activation material is disposed on a surface of the recesses and located at an interface between the ceramic material and the patterned metal structure.