A metal matrix composite material made of a fiber reinforcement having a coating of gadolinium and gadolinium boride, preferably as discrete layers, each having a thickness of 1 to 6 microns. This composite is made by coating reinforcing fibers with gadolinium using a deposition technique, further coating the fibers with gadolinium boride by a deposition technique and then consolidating the coated fibers into a metal matrix to form the metal matrix composite.

A material such as fabric, plastic, leather or paper incorporates retroreflective properties which result from the application of metal coated microbeads. Methods for the application of microbeads to various surfaces as well as the formulation of printing inks containing microheads are disclosed.

Tubular workpieces of oriented polymers such as polyethylene polyester and PVC are formed by drawing a workpiece over an expanding former in the absence of any force perpendicular to the axis of the workpiece. The processes do not require the use of any liquid lubricant. They enable greater degrees of expansion and hence orientation in the direction perpendicular to the axis to be achieved and result in products of improved appearance and strength.

A method and system for synthesizing nanocrystalline material. A system includes a chamber, a nonconsumable cathode shielded against chemical reaction by a working gas not including an oxidizing gas, but including an inert gas, a consumable anode vaporizable by an arc formed between the cathode and the anode, and a nozzle for injecting at least one of a quench and reaction gas in the boundaries of the arc.

A method of preparing an inorganic particulate material suitable for incorporation in a composition comprising a hydrophobic polymeric material includes the steps of (a) processing an aqueous suspension of an inorganic particulate material in the presence of a water soluble dispersing agent; (b) adding a surfactant to the particulate material; and (c) drying the particulate material. The inorganic particulate material to which the surfactant has been added may be further treated by addition ther...

There is disclosed a method for immobilizing an oily or non-polar substance in a concrete matrix comprising the following steps: (a) absorbing the said oily or non-polar substance into a calcined clay mineral; (b) incorporating the calcined clay mineral and absorbed oily or non-polar substance formed in step (i) in a hardenable concrete mix; and (c) permitting the resultant concrete mix to harden.

Barium, strontium and/or rare earth metal hexaferrite powder of low coercivity can be produced by subjecting a barium, strontium and/or rare earth metal hexaferrite powder to carburising, nitriding, carbonitriding, hydriding or carbohydriding conditions without undue loss of saturation magnetisation. High coercivity powder can be produced by calcining the low coercivity powder (FIG. 1). High remanence and high saturation magnetisation powder can be produced by mechanically alloying of a Sr--, Ba...

A materials mixer, suitable for mixing concrete, comprises a generally cylindrical housing (10) which houses a mixing chamber (15) consisting of an upper, dry mixing chamber portion (2), a central, wet mixing chamber portion (3) and a lower, discharge chamber portion (4). The materials mixer has an entrance (20) for materials to be mixed and an exit (25) for the complete mixture, between which are a plurality of rotating members (30, 40, 50, 60) which disrupt the flow of materials through the ch...

The present invention relates to silica materials and particles having surfaces which define an interior. The interior includes interior silicon atoms at least a portion of which is bonded to a substituted or unsubstituted alkyl moiety. In a preferred aspect of the present invention, the silica material also has surface silicon atoms to which are bonded substituted or unsubstituted alkyl moieties. A capillary tube coated on its inner surface with the silica material of the present invention is a...

A magnetoresistive material of the present invention has a structure in which many clusters are surrounded by a crystal phase of Cu and/or Ag, where each cluster has a grain size of 20 nm or less and composed of an amorphous phase containing at least one ferromagnetic metal element T as a main component selected from Fe, Co and Ni, and at least one element M selected from Ti, Zr, Hf, V, Nb, Ta, Mo and W.