This paper presented the introduction of recent progress on studies of the cathode materials for Li-ion batteries. Their structure and electrochemical properties were demonstrated. The factors affecting the electrochemical properties of the cathode materials were discussed. Dif- ferent synthesis methods of powders were compared. The advantages of soft chemistry synthesis route were given.

Laminated ceramic composites with a great potential for applications in the near future are one of the most effective ways to toughen ceramics.
It develops very rapidly and has become the focus of research on the toughening of ceramics recently. In this paper, the structure designing, fabrication,
feature and the main mechanisms that can be used to toughen laminated ceramic composites were introduced, the progress in several different systems of
laminated ceramic composites was reviewed and the problems that should be further studied in laminated ceramic composites were suggested and discussed.

The development status quo of ternary-boride based cermet was surveyed. The in-situ reaction liquid sintering technical process, sintering mechanism and mechanical properties as well as its application of ternary-boride based cermet such as Mo₂FeB₂ based cermet(KHM) were reviewed. The application foreground and the development trend of this kind of cermet were prospected.

A three-dimensional real-time observation instrument was developed, which was con- sisted of crystal part, optic observation part, and result analysis part. The crystal growth and flow movement was observed by the two-eye observation method. A new growth furnace and crucible, being suitable for Bridgman method crystal growth, was developed. The solidliquid interface of NaNO₃ was visualized. At last the image visualized was synthesized into three-dimensional image by a processing software.

Dielectric responses of as-grown PbWO₄ single crystal doped with Gd³⁺ ion were measured. Experimental results show that typical dielectric relaxation
phenomena exist in the crystal. There is one Debye-type dielectric peak (α) in the heating cycle from 40℃ up to 600℃, while another peak (β) in the cooling cycle. Activation energies of the two peaks(α and β) are 0.50±0.01 eV and 0.51±0.02 eV, with a frequency factor 1.44×10⁹s^-1 and 2.44×10⁶s^-1 respectively. Both peaks can
be explained by the presence of dipole complexes formed by the doped Gd³⁺ ions coupled with Pb vacancies and interstitial oxysen respertively. The correlation between the dielectric and scintillation properties was discussed.

Rod-like α-Sialon crystal particles were obtained by a method of pressure-less sintering and subsequent acid treatments. The reasons for the effect of additives on the morphology of α- Sialon were discussed. The morphology of α-Sialon particles can be controlled with different additives. α-Sialon with light rare earth oxides as additives has α-smaller diameter and a larger aspect ratio than that with heavy rare earth oxides as additives.

Light scatter in KDP crystal is a very important parameter to evaluate the properties of KDP crystal. As the scatter partical size is very small, it makes the studies on its component and the formation process very difficult. TEM was used to study on the actual size of the scatter particles in KDP crystal, and the component was also analyzed. The formation mechanism of light scatter was proposed and discussed.

The processes of the phase-separation, nucleation and crystallization of the MgO-Al₂O₃-SiO₂ glass containing TiO₂ and ZrO₂ were studied by the
methods of infrared spectra, differential thermal analysis, X-ray powder diffraction, and electric microscopy. Phase-separation was found first during the heat treatment
of the glass. The phase like drops contained more Ti element and surrounded by other phases. The analogous structure was remained during the nucleation process.
Titanium ions were found to be of six-coordination, which accounted for the crystallization of the crystals containing titanium element.

Ultrafine Bi₄Ti₃O₁₂ powder was prepared by a coprecipitation method and its phase evolution process and sintering behavior were investigated. The
results show that the synthetic temperature of Bi₄Ti₃O₁₂ is lowered significantly due to homogeneous mixing of Ti and Bi components in the
precursor mixture, and phase pure Bi₄Ti₃O₁₂ powder can be produced after aging at 600℃. The powder obtained consists of irregular-shaped
particles of about 100nm and is nearly aggregate free. Dense Bi₄Ti₃O₁₂ ceramics can be prepared at a considerably low temperature of 950℃,
indicating the high sinterability of the powder.

Nano-ZnFe₂O₄ was prepared by a liquid catalytic phase transformation methed at lower temperatures. In this new method ZnSO₄-7H₂O and FeCl_3^·6H₂O were used as raw materials and trace FeSO₄ as the catalyst. When the beginning concentration of the reaction system reached 1.2mol^.L^-1, the particle sizes were less than 20 nm. All kinds of characteristics of the products were studied. The densities and specific surface areas were determined respectively.

D-E hysteresis, piezoelectric properties and temperature hysteresis phenomena of (Na_0.5Bi_0.5)TiO₃ and (Na_0.5Bi_0.5)_0.94Ba_0.06TiO₃ ceramics were investigated. Remnant polariza- tion (P_r=19uC/cm²) and coercive field (E_c =4.7kV/mm) of (Na_0.5Bi_0.5)_0.94Ba_0.06TiO₃ ceramic were obtained in the experiment. Although the substitution of Ba²⁺ for (Na_0.5Bi_0.5)²⁺ can im- prove the piezoelectric properties, it can also induce the deterioration of temperature stability.

Sintering process and dielectric properties were studied by adding a small amount of different dopants into PMN ceramics using normal two-step method. When doped
with 1mol% Li₂O, the sintering temperature of PMN can be reduced to 950～1000℃. The dielectric constant and loss tangent of this material are 13500 and 0.55%
respectively, which are better than those of pure PMN. When doped with 2mol% SrO, low temperature sintering about 800～900℃ can be attained while
its loss tangent at room temperature reduced to only 0.36%. Analysis results show that the materials have good microstructures and are highly condensed. Anyhow,
doped with Li₂O and SrO can slightly lower and enhance the extent of diffuse phase transition (DPT).

A series of inorganic antibacterial materials with strong antibacterial function and high safety , including the materials which can resist high temperature (1350℃ ), were obtained by studying their carriers, antibacterial metallic ions and preparing techniques. The experiment results show that the minimum bacteriostatic consistency is MIC ≤ 75 ppm (Escherichia coli and staphylococcus), the acute toxicity taken orally is LD>10000mg/kg (little and big white rats), the normal quantity in subacute toxicity test is 100mg/kg·d.

A polymeric sponge with interconnected pores in all three dimensions was chosen to prepare firstly the reticulated preform by the replication process. After the
polymeric sponge was burned out, the reticulated preform was presintered to obtain enough operating strength. The struts of the reticulated preform exhibit porous
microstructure, which is beneficial to coating of the slurry on them. The coating treatment was conducted by the thinner slurry on the reticulated preform. The
typical flaws such as longitudinal strut cracks were eliminated by recoating process; additionally, very thin struts were avoided by coating. The reticulated
ceramics with a very uniform macrostructure was produced by recoating process and few filled cells were invisible. The effects of coating numbers on the pore
size, strut thickness and relative density were investigated in detail. This work has developed successfully an innovative approach to precisely control the macrostructure
for the reticulated ceramics, which is valuable to predict and optimize their properties such as mechanical properties and permeability.

The paper presents the results on the adsorption behaviour of polyacrylic acid onto alumina with the presence of magnesium ions. Both the salt concentration and pH have great influence on the adsorption isotherms. Comparing with the adsorption behaviour in sodium chlo- ride solution, magnesium ions can enhance the adsorption amount obviously. Magnesium ions are co-adsorbed onto alumina powders as a complex with PAA.

As a high performance thermal-resistant composites, carbon/carbon composites have the highest mechanical strength in the temperature more than 1600℃,
but the brittleness of C/C is the main shortcoming limitting its usage. Delamination constitutes the principal threat to structure strength of two dimensional carbon/carbon
composites. There are three kinds of crack extension modes in general. In this paper, two kinds of modes, that is, mode Ⅰ and Ⅱ were discussed. On the basis
of failure evolution features in composites, the delamination crack extension energy G_ⅠC 、G_ⅡC, the extension patterns and the influencing factors were researched. It is revealed that the
critical interlaminar crack extension energy of 2D carbon/carbon increases as the material density goes up, therefore, the ability to resist fracture evolution
improves. The experimental results show that the extension energy G_ⅡC rises with the increase of fiber volume fractions.
Also, it is observed that the G_ⅡC increases greatly after filling the matrix with powdered pyrolytic carbon and graphite.

The toughnesses of a soda-lime glass and a TiC particulate-reinforced alumina composite were measured by the direct indentation method. It
was found that, for each material, the indentation toughness measured at a given applied indentation load exhibits a large scatter and can
be described well with Weibull distribution function. Comparison between the experimental data obtained with different materials revealed that
the scatter in the measured indentation toughness can be attributed to the effect of microstructural inhomogeneity on the local crack resistance. Based on these findings, it was suggested that, when
determining the fracture toughness with the direct indentation method for a given material, a large number of individual measurements should
be made at a given indentation load to obtain a complete description for the statistical properties of the measured indentation toughness.

The microstructure and mechanical properties of in-situ toughened Si₃N₄ were studied by principal components analysis. The microstructure can be
characterized by the first principal component of its characterization variables, which intitules complex microstructure index. Compact matrix
with fine grains and uniform large grains with great aspect ration must be ensured in order to get in-situ toughened Si₃N₄ with excellent
microstructure. It has been approved that materials with similar complex microstructure index possessing similar mechanical properties. The mechanical
properties can be characterized by the first and the second principal components of its characterization variables, which intitule mechanical
properties stability index and average mechanical properties index. The former one reflects fracture toughness and Weibull modulus which are
affected by the fluctuation of microstructure; the later one reflects the average mechanical property, namely strength.

The nanosized diamond powder, synthesized by explosive detonation was used as the coating material on substrates for the purpose of promoting the nucleation
and growth of CVD diamond films. Experiments show that in comparison with the scratching pretreatment with ～μm diamond particles, the nanosized diamond
coating pretreatment not only can make nucleation density higher and more homogeneous, but shorten the growth time for the formation of a continuous film. The growth process
of the films is composed of sequential two stages. The first is the growth and association of sphere shaped particles before the appearance of any facet, the second is the gradual emergence
of facets and the growth of the crystalline grain with certain facets. The films made by this pretreatment possess the following outstanding properties, such as
compact structure, low surface roughness, fine facets and high crystalline quality. In contrast, once the films deposited on the scratched substrate are nucleated,
the certain facets emerge without the former stage mentioned above, but there exist significant second nucleation on them.

Two kinds of precursors, being transparency and milky in status respectively, were prepared. Thin films of Pb_0.9La_0.15TiO₃ were coated on glass
substrates with the two precursors added with or without crystallite nano powders of Pb_0.9La_0.15TiO₃ respectively by dip-coating methods. Scanning
electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and dielectric spectroscopy were respectively used to observe the morphology, phase status and dielectric
constant of the films. In conclusion, the initial temperature of forming the perovskite phase of Pb_0.9La_0.15TiO₃ thin film derived from the
milky precursor is 40-50℃ lower than that from transparency precursor. On the other hand, crystal lattice of the perovskite phase of the film derived
from the transparency precursor decreases while the calcination temperature is in high level of about 550℃ and up. The Curie point is near room temperature
when the film is calcined at about 525℃. And the solid solubility of La in the perovskite phase decreases with increasing the calcination temperature of the film, and vice versa.

Barium strontium titanate，Ba_0.7Sr_0.3TiO₃ thin films with good electrical properties were prepared on Pt/Ti/SiO_2/Si (100) substrates by a
modified sol-gel processing with a new precursor solution，ethylene glycol was introduced as a necessary component of the solution to increase the stability of
precipitation and to decrease the crystallization temperature of films. The thermolysis process of the BST-gel was analyzed by DTA and XRD, and the effects
of thickness on phase formation were investigated. A dielectric constant >400 and a dissipation factor <0.02 were measured at 100kHz for BST films heated to 700℃ for 15min in O₂ with a thickness of 200nm. P-E hysteresis loop
studies indicated a remanent polarization (P_r) of 1.4μC/cm² and a coercive field (E_c)of 48kV/cm .

Based on the measurement and analysis of carier concentration n_e, mobility μ_e, electrical resistivity ρ, film thickness d,
refractive index n, transmittance T(λ) and reflectivity R(λ) in ultraviolet-visible range, the eletrical and optical behaviours of Sb-doped SnO₂ thin films derived
by sol-gel processing were investigated. The experimental data show that the SnO₂ thin films derived by the sol-gel processing have favourable electrical
conductivity and transmittance in visible light range, in which n-type carrier concentration n_e reachs to 10²⁰cm^-3, electrical resistivity
ρ～10^-2Ω．cm, transmittance T～90%, as well as forbiden band gap E_g=3.7～3.8eV.

WO_x thin films were successfully synthesized on Si (111) substrate at different conditions by using scanning excimer laser ablation technique. The structure of WO_x thin films deposited
at different conditions was analyzed by STEM, XRD, RS. The thin films deposited at 300 and 400℃ under 20Pa oxygen pressure showed nano-crystalline triclinic structure.
The experimental results illustrate that the oxygen pressure and the deposition temperature are two important parameters for determining the
structure and chemical composition of the synthesized thin films.

The purely stoichiometric SrBi₂Ta₂O₉ powder was successfully prepared by a molten salt method using Bi₂O₃, SrCO₃ and Ta₂O₃ as raw materials and
a mixture of NaCl and KCl added. The crystal structure and morphology of the powder were characterized by X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscope. The
XRD patterns reveal that single phase SrBi₂Ta₂O₉ powder can be obtained by the molten salt method, and the SEM photographs show that the powder has a high
degree of shape anisotropy. The effect of reacting temperature on phase formation and particle size was reported. Further more the mechanism of molten salt technique was briefly discussed.

Monodispersed titanium dioxide nanoparticles were prepared by the hydrolysis of the titanium complex at 145℃ , the complex was obtained by the reaction of TiCl₄, with tri- ethanolamine. The crystalline phase and morphology of the nanoparticles were characterized by means of TEM and XRD techniques. The sizes of the particles can be regulated by changing pH values of the complex solution. The UV spectra of the complex solution were measured. The formation and hydrolysis of the complex were discussed.

Rare earth cation Eu³⁺ doped PZT nanopowders (PEZT) were produced by a mod- ified sol-gel method, and their particle sizes were between 10~20nm. The effect of Eu³⁺ on the microstructure of PZT powders was analyzed by using XRD, and the position status of Eu³⁺ in crystal unit cell of PZT was also analyzed. The results show that the appropriate content of Eu³⁺ added into PZT is≤ 7%.

Two kinds of silica colloidal crystals were fabricated by the self-assembly of mono- disperse silica particles. Optical microscope images show that the samples axe polycrystalline. Transmission measurements show the existence of photonic band gaps, and the center of which is strongly determined by the size of the colloidal spheres. With aging-time increasing the photonic band gap shifts considerably towards shorter wavelength.

The effect of stir speed, reaction temperature and [Mg²⁺]/[Ca²⁺] ratio on the crys- talline habit of CaCO₃ was studied. It is shown that though the increase of reaction temperature is propitious to the formation of aragonite phase, aragonite phase cannot be formed if there is no Mg²⁺ existed in solution. Based on the detailed analysis of experimental result, it is concluded that [Mg²⁺]/[Ca²⁺] ratio is the key factor for polymorph of calcium carbonate in carbonate process.

C₆₀-polymethyl methacylate (PMMA) composite films were prepared by the chemical organic deposition method with the different weight ratios C₆₀ to
PMMA. The measurements of Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectra for the as-prepared films show that C₆₀ molecules are embedded into PMMA. X-ray diffraction
(XRD) and transmission electron microscope (TEM) were employed to study the structures of the films. The measurement results suggest that C₆₀ molecules
in the films tend to aggregate each other and to form some tiny C₆₀ crystallites due to the increase in the C₆₀ content. TEM observition shows that regular
C₆₀ crystallites of about 30-100nm are distributed homogeneously in the PMMA film. The selective area diffraction indicates that the crystallized
particles in the films are single crystal ones with fcc structure. The theory of Boltzmann distribution well explains the phenomenon that C₆₀
crystallite size increases with increasing C₆₀ content or annealed at enhanced temperature.

CVD diamond with high electrical, optical and thermal quality has been used in many applications. However,
its inert chemical nature and high temperature stability make it difficult to be processed. A highly available etching technique compatible with
existing diamond processing is desirable. In this paper, CVD diamond thick films were etched with rare-earth compound ink prepared by the authors. The etching
process is taken in the atmosphere at a temperature below the oxidation temperature of diamond. The technique uses inexpensive and safe rare-earth compound ink and the experimental results show that the processing is simple
and efficient for polishing the CVD diamond thick films rapidly. The results were studied by SEM.

Free-standing silica membranes were prepared at the air-water interface by biomimetic synthesis technology
from the hydrolysis of tetraethyoxysilane (TEOS) under the templating of assemblies of cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB). Time was chosen, the
material ratio used in the membrane-growing process that determined the qualities of membranes was optimized. Membrane formation can be considered to
involve polymerization of silicates in surfactant head group regions of a hexagonal mesophase that is concentrated at the liquid surface overstructure.

The preparation method of a-alumina hollow fiber membrane by Reaction Bonding of Aluminum Oxide (RBAO) technique combining with dry-wet spin process was introduced in this paper. The mechanical property, microstructure, reaction process and phase transform of membrane were investigated by transmission electron microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, thermogravimetric analysis, differential thermal analysis and X-ray diffraction. The mechanical property is improved remarkably. The compress and bend strength is 90 and 41MPa.

Al₂O₃-ZrO₂ coating was prepared on alumina based engineering ceramics by using inorganic salt as precursors. The results of SEM, XRD and Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry (SIMS) show that the coating exhibits the complete morphology with the homogeneous crystal grain. In addition, The coating is mainly composed of a-Al₂O₃ and t-ZrO₂ after heat treatment at 1100 ℃ for 1h. The coating and substrate adheres each other compactly with distinct interdiffusion near the interface.

A TiO layer was deposited onto carbon/carbon composite through Ion Beam En-hanced Deposition technique. Porous network was formed after the TiO layer was subjected to alkali treatment with high concentration, and the network of titanium oxide induced the deposi-tion of biological apatite in the simulated body fluid. So, biomimetic activation was realized for carbon/carbon composite.