Abstract: A novel ceramic material affording a ceramic molded bodies having a high toughness and a high tensile strength is disclosed which comprises a smectite clay mineral having at least a portion of ion-exchangeable cations thereof ion-exchanged with bismuth ions. The ceramic material is prepared by treating a smectite clay mineral with an aqueous solution containing bismuth ions to ion-exchange at least a portion of ion-exchangeable cations thereof with bismuth ions.

Abstract: Improved silicon-free, continuous zirconia fibers have diameters greater than 5 micrometers and high tensile strengths. In another aspect, strong, flexible, zirconia fibers are prepared in a process involving the addition of colloidal ZrO.sub.2 particles to a fiber precursor solution.

Abstract: Disclosed is a starting mixture for the preparation of a sintered body on a basis of aluminum titanate consists of more than 46 wt.-% TiO.sub.2, up to 49.5 wt.-% Al.sub.2 O.sub.3, 3 to 5 wt.-% quartz, and less than 0.2 wt.-% impurities, Al.sub.2 O.sub.3 and TiO.sub.2 being present in the weight ratio of 1:0.95 to 1:1.05. The sintered body according to the invention is composed of:15 to 35 wt.-% TiO.sub.2 ;60 to 85 wt.-% Al.sub.2 TiO.sub.5 (aluminum titanate);up to 5 wt.-% Al.sub.2 O.sub.3 ;up to 17 wt.-% Mullite; andmax. 0.2 wt.-% impurities,all parts by weight together totaling 100 wt.-%.Also disclosed are processes for making the sintered body.

Abstract: The present invention provides ceramic compositions for preparing multi-layer capacitors (MLCs) having high dielectric constants between about 3000 and 4700 and stable temperature coefficients (TC) prepared from high purity barium titanate, niobium pentoxide and cobalt oxide.