A water resistant sealing material suitable as a gasket or valve seal is described. The sealing material comprises modified chemically exfoliated vermiculite (CEV) in a proportion of 30-70% w/w sealing material and a filler in a proportion of 70-30% w/w sealing material, and optionally other additives in a proportion of 0-10% w/w sealing material. The modified CEV comprises water resistance enhancing monovalent cations. The sealing material is particularly useful to provide improved water resistance in gaskets and valve seals.

The present invention relates to composite sealing materials for a gasket. The gaskets are useful in solid oxide fuel/electrolyser cells (SOFC and SOEC). The fuel cell gaskets contain sealing material based upon chemically exfoliated vermiculite that has improved corrosion resistance. The sealing material comprises chemically exfoliated vermiculite; filler; and insoluble carbonate.

A gas turbine engine includes a rotatable component and a non-rotatable component. A seal is carried on one of the rotatable component or the non-rotatable component to provide sealing there between. The seal includes a geopolymer seal element.

A sheet including exfoliated clay minerals, having a density of 1.6 g/cm.sup.3 or less and a compression ratio of 20% or more.

A hydrophobic dielectric sealing material is provided that is especially suitable for use in extreme environments such as for enabling downhole electrical feedthrough integrated logging tools reliable operation, especially, in a water or water-mud filled wellbore as first scenario or in moisture-rich oil-mud filled wellbores. In some embodiments, a hydrophobic dielectric sealing material may include: H.sub.3BO.sub.3 10-60 mol %; Bi.sub.2O.sub.3 10-50 mol %; MO 10-50 mol %; SiO.sub.2 0-15 mol %; and optionally one or more rare earth oxides 0-5 mol %. A method for making hydrophobic sealing material includes selecting water insoluble raw materials, form tetragonal phase dominated phase, and enlarge band-gap with wide-band-gap material. The morphology of the sealing material is preferably a tetrahedral phase dominated covalent bond network for obtaining high electrical insulation resistance, dielectric strength and hydrophobicity, and high mechanical strength in against downhole 30,000 PSI/300 C. water-based hostile environments.

Articles comprising carbon composites are disclosed. The carbon composites contain carbon microstructures having interstitial spaces among the carbon microstructures; and a binder disposed in at least some of the interstitial spaces; wherein the carbon microstructures comprise unfilled voids within the carbon microstructures. Alternatively, the carbon composites contain: at least two carbon microstructures; and a binding phase disposed between the at least two carbon microstructures; wherein the binding phase comprises a binder comprising one or more of the following: SiO.sub.2; Si; B; B.sub.2O.sub.3; a metal; or an alloy of the metal; and wherein the metal is at least one of aluminum; copper; titanium; nickel; tungsten; chromium; iron; manganese; zirconium; hafnium; vanadium; niobium; molybdenum; tin; bismuth; antimony; lead; cadmium; or selenium.

According to the present invention, there is provided a filler compound, the filler compound comprising filler particles and a binder, wherein the filler particles comprise particles of at least one glassy material, and the particles of glassy material are at least 10 wt. % of the dry mass of the filler compound, and wherein at least 30 wt. % of the filler particles have a diameter between 50 and 100 microns inclusive. Use of a filler compound in the erection of a structure is also described.

Disclosed as a lead-free, inorganic low melting-point composition which, when applied to an object to be sealed having surfaces made of inorganic oxide and/or metal, and then subjected to heat treatment in the air in a temperature range not exceeding 400 C., sufficiently expands over the surfaces exhibiting good wettability to it, and thus is able to adhere (stick fast) to the surfaces and seal them once cooling down and making solid, and also to join two of their surfaces which are laid on each other.

A gas turbine engine includes a rotatable component and a non-rotatable component. A seal is carried on one of the rotatable component or the non-rotatable component to provide sealing there between. The seal includes a geopolymer seal element.

A nozzle assembly, for a metal casting apparatus selected from a sliding gate and a tube exchange device, comprises a first refractory element comprising a first coupling surface which includes a first bore aperture, and a second refractory element comprising a second coupling surface, which includes a second bore aperture, the first and second elements being coupled to one another in a sliding translation relationship through their respective first and second coupling surfaces such that the first and second bore apertures can be brought into and out of registry to define, when in registry, a continuous bore for discharging molten metal from a molten metal inlet to a molten metal outlet of said nozzle assembly. A sealing member is provided between the first and second coupling surfaces of the first and second elements. The sealing member comprises a thermally intumescent material.