High density silver nanowire arrays were synthesized through the self-ordered Anodic Aluminum Oxide (AAO) template. The pore size in the AAO membrane was confirmed by processing the widening porosity with a honeycomb structure with cross sections of 20nm, 50nm, and 100nm, by SEM. Pore numbers by unit area were consistent; only pore size changed. The synthesized silver nanowire, which was crystallized, was dense in the cross sections of the amorphous AAO membrane. The synthesized silver nanowire had a crystallized self-ordered array with a width of 50nm.

A new method for bonding blocks of Si3N4 has been developed that produces bonds whose maximum service temperature is equal to the temperature used during the bonding process. In this work a system consisting of the blocks of Si3N4, which had been coated with a preceramic film containing a fine dispersion of silicon and a thin layer of germanium powder, were investigated to determine the effect of the thickness of the germanium film. The maximum service temperature is not determined by the melting point of the germanium since the germanium forms a higher melting point solid solution with the silicon in the film. Control of the thickness of the germanium film is critical as it was shown that thicker layers result in lower strength bonds due to differences in thermal expansion and the maximum service temperature is lower due to the lower liquidus temperature of the leaner Ge-Si solid solution. This technique has potential applications in fuel cells due to the small differences in thermal expansion coefficients and firing shrinkages among the fuel cell materials, thus allowing successful fabrication and joining process of the monolithic solid oxide fuel cell (MSOFC) with few defects.

This paper describes the synthesis of a gold–silica core–shell colloid that could be a building block for optical instruments such as photonic crystals and plasmonic waveguides. It was possible to directly coat gold nanoparticles with uniform shells of amorphous silica via a simplified process that did not use a silane coupling agent. The thickness of the silica shells could be varied from tens to several hundred nanometers by controlling the precipitation time and concentration of tetraethoxysilane.

The effect of a rapid-quenching technique on the elimination of compositional fluctuation was investigated for a solid solution of

PbZrO3–PbTiO3 system (PZT). A mixture of ZrO2 and TiO2 was rapidly quenched. The rapidly quenched materials were mixed with PbO and heated. PZT was formed without intermediate compounds. By using the Williamson–Hall method, it was found that PZT prepared using a rapid-quenching technique had almost no compositional fluctuation.

The nanocomposite of Ti-Al-B system was consolidated by SPS and characterized on microstructure and mechanical property, which was synthesized from activated nano powders by Mechanical Alloying. Planetary ball milling was used for Mechanical Alloying for 120-180 min with 350 rpm. The synthesized activated powders were pressed at 1400oC under 60 MPa in vacuum, with 1800 A (DC) electrical currency for 4 min. Various Al compositions doped with the reactively formed TiB2 during Mechanical Alloying played a critical role on consolidation and mechanical property.

The synthesized nanocomposite was analyzed by SEM, XRD and TEM, with a TiB2 second phase in 10-30 nm size, and remained amorphous phase of Al with unreacted Ti and B on grain boundaries as a ternary phase. In the composition of 0.3 mol Al, the relative density of 98% and bending strength of 847 MPa were higher than those of TiB2 composite, and the hardness measurement of 19.6 GPa in the 0.1 mol Al composition was the highest among three compositions.

A mixture of Al2O3 and GdAlO3 was melted and rapid quenched to produce an amorphous film. Dense eutectic composites were consolidated from ground amorphous powder using both conventional and spark plasma sintering (SPS). Conventional sintering at temperatures above 1600degreesC for 24 h was required for complete sintering. However, using SPS complete sintering could be obtained at temperatures between 1300 and 1500degreesC with no soaking. The SPS technique could consolidate ultrafine eutectic structure from rapid quenched amorphous material, whilst conventional sintering was not successful owing to grain growth. A combination of rapid quenching and SPS resulted in an ultrafine eutectic Al2O3-GdAlO3 structure.