Here we propose a method for identification and characterization of metal-oxide powders with patterns of energy-resolved density of electron traps (ERDT) and conduction-band bottom (CBB) position, as a fingerprint, measured by newly developed reversed double-beam photoacoustic spectroscopy (RDB-PAS). Degrees of coincidence (ζ) of ERDT/CBB patterns could be quantitatively evaluated for a given pair of titania samples as a product of coincidence of (a) ERDT-pattern matching, (b) total density of electron traps, and (c) CBB position estimated by ordinary PAS. It was also shown that the higher the ζ is increased, the higher the degree of coincidence for photocatalytic activities of the pair of titania samples becomes regardless of three different photocatalytic reaction systems, presumably because photocatalytic activities are regulated by ERDT and CBB of titania powders.

Xerogels were prepared from mixed aqueous ethanol solutions of Tetraethyl orthosilicate (TEOS) and hydrated iron nitrate, and their properties were investigated using XRD, TEM, FTIR, and VSM. As the heat treatment temperature of the iron oxide particles increased, the γ-Fe₂O₃ and the ε-Fe₂O₃ were precipitated, and the particle diameters increased.

For heat treatment at 1100°C, the α-Fe₂O₃ was observed when the Si/Fe ratio was 1.5, while the ε-Fe₂O₃ was formed when the Si/Fe ratio was 2.8, 5.7, and 11.4. The particle diameter of the ε phase increased with decreasing Si/Fe ratio. By adding yttrium, crystal growth of the iron oxide particles was promoted, and the particle diameters and the coercivity consequently became larger than that of the sample without yttrium present.

The optimum preparation conditions to obtain well-dispersed and fluidized SiC slurry with UV curable resin were investigated. According to the rheological study of non-aqueous SiC slurries, the commercially available cationic surfactant was effective to improve the dispersibility and fluidity of SiC slurries, and the optimum amount of the dispersant was revealed to be 3 mass% to SiC. Based on the results of adsorption isotherm and zeta potential, steric hindrance of the cationic surfactant, which adsorbs to the surface of SiC particles, is considered to be the principal mechanism to improve the dispersibility. The composite sheet prepared from SiC slurries with the solid loading of 34 vol% was successfully solidified by the stereolithography apparatus for providing the planar irradiation of UV.

Fine spherical glass particles on a Si substrate were removed using the adhesive force between them and a polyethylene (PE) film or polyurethane (PU) rubber sheet. The PE film or PU rubber sheet was placed on the Si substrate on which spherical glass particles with a diameter of 0.3–1.5 μm were adhered. The film/sheet was pressed onto the Si substrate using electrostatic force or pressurized air. When the force between the film/sheet and the particles became larger than that between the Si substrate and the particles, the particles were removed from the substrate along with the film/sheet. A repetition of this process led to the removal of all the glass spheres. More than 80% of the particles were removed in the first removal step when the pressure was 0.1 MPa and more than 0.25 MPa in the case of the PU rubber sheet and PE film, respectively.

Recently, ultra fine bubble (UFB) technology is applied in a variety of field (washing, agriculture, fishing industry, etc.). However, since UFB measurement is not currently established, it is difficult to determine the effects caused by UFB. Especially, real UFB sample contains particle and bubble, usually the total amount are detected in the measurements. So the UFB concentration may be overestimated. In this paper, a laser diffraction method was used for UFB measurements. It is appeared the temperature history strongly effects to the dissolved gas concentration at UFB measurements. I will show some check point, the reliability of UFB concentration is correct and exact value or not.

We examined about the chemical change of Japanese sea salt using Thermo Gravimetric and Mass Spectrometric analyzer (TG-MS). TG-MS spectrums of the salt, calcium chloride tetra-hydrate and magnesium chloride hexa-hydrate were measured. From the result, it’s thought that a formation of hydrogen chloride by heating the salt is caused by the chemical decomposition of magnesium chloride hydrate in general. On a temperature rising process, practical reaction temperature is increased with sample mass and heating rate. And the formation rate of the hydroxyl magnesium chloride and magnesium oxide is increased by moisture in a gas phase. The moisture in a gas phase cause oxidize anhydrous magnesium chloride to magnesium oxide around 500°C as shown in following reaction. MgCl₂+H₂O→MgO+2HCl. From these result, we concluded that control of residence time, gas-solid volume ratio and moisture in gas phase is important for reduce of hydrogen chloride formation in drying process and calcining process.

This study evaluates how powders are affected by air using Powder Rheometer which can measure the torque for powder viscosity and flow energy. It can be challenging to directly evaluate the properties of an aerated powder, as glass beads and MCC only require a small amount of air to change their behavior, but flour may require significantly more, or will be insensitive to aeration. The aeration characteristics of a powder can be studied with powder rheology by measuring their flow energy during aeration. This evaluation demonstrates how it is possible to evaluate the flow characteristics of powder using different aeration regimes.

SnO₂ quantum dot was successfully synthesized at ambient temperature via ozone bubbling to suspension including Sn₆O₄(OH)₄ under pH of 12. It was clarified that use of SnF₂ as starting material enables to obtain clear and stable SnO₂ quantum dot suspension. Possible formation mechanism of quantum dot was proposed and shift of fluorescence was predicted with use of varied basic solution for neutralization and pH adjustment based on the hypothesis that shift of fluorescence is attributed to change in size. And this prediction was confirmed by experiment. Finally addition of Zn as dopant gave improved luminescence intensity without shift of fluorescence.

SnO₂ quantum dot developed in this work does not include any cadmium, thus application as alternative to conventional CdSe and CdS is expected.