Abstract: An object of the present invention is to enhance the thermal efficiency of an engine, to provide a film having low thermal conductivity and low heat capacity and being free from separation, drop-off and the like and excellent in durability and reliability. According to the present invention, an engine combustion chamber structure, wherein an anodic oxide film having a thickness of from more than 20 ?m to 500 ?m and a porosity of 20% or more is formed on the inner surface of the engine combustion chamber, and a manufacturing method thereof are provided.

Abstract: An object of the present invention is to provide a method for manufacturing a semiconductor film capable of manufacturing a ZnMgO film in which the adding amount of Mg to Zn is more than 20 mol %, by means of a liquid phase deposition method. The present invention is a method for manufacturing a semiconductor film including a first step of preparing a mixture liquid including zinc hydroxide, magnesium hydroxide, and a liquid, a second step of applying a member to be film-deposited to the mixed liquid, and a third step of heating the member to be film-deposited to which the mixed liquid is applied, having a temperature range from 300° C. to 400° C. for 100/30 minutes or less.

Abstract: A main object of the present invention is to provide a CZTS-based compound semiconductor whose band gap is different from that of a conventional CZTS-based compound semiconductor and a photoelectric conversion device prepared with the CZTS-based compound semiconductor. The present invention is a CZTS-based compound semiconductor in which a ratio of the number of moles of Cu to the total number of moles of Cu, Zn and Sn is larger than a ratio of the number of moles of Cu to the total number of moles of Cu, Zn and Sn configuring Cu2ZnSnS4, and a photoelectric conversion device prepared with the CZTS-based compound semiconductor.

Abstract: A method of manufacturing a ZnMgO film includes the steps of in order: dissolving a zinc material and a magnesium material in an aqueous ammonia solution having a temperature at which, in an aqueous solution state diagram which represents ion concentrations on a vertical axis and pH on a horizontal axis, a line a demarcated by a region where Zn(OH)2 precipitates and a region where ZnO22? can exist is positioned on a low pH side from a line ? demarcated by a region where magnesium ions can exist and a region where Mg(OH)2 precipitates, and adjusting the pH of the aqueous ammonium solution and the zinc ion concentration and magnesium ion concentration in the aqueous ammonia solution within a region lying between the line a and line ?; elevating the temperature of the aqueous ammonia solution to a temperature at which Zn(OH)2 and Mg(OH)2 precipitate; and firing the precipitate.

Abstract: An object of the present invention is to enhance the thermal efficiency of an engine, to provide a film having low thermal conductivity and low heat capacity and being free from separation, drop-off and the like and excellent in durability and reliability. According to the present invention, an engine combustion chamber structure, wherein an anodic oxide film having a thickness of from more than 20 ?m to 500 ?m and a porosity of 20% or more is formed on the inner surface of the engine combustion chamber, and a manufacturing method thereof are provided.

Abstract: The present invention relates to a metallic oxide film which exhibits a high hardness and is good in terms of the transparency, and which exhibits a hydrophilic property, a defogging and dirtproof property and a self-cleaning property over a long period of time, a production process for the same, and a hydrophilic mirror comprising this hydrophilic metallic oxide film. The present invention is characterized in that the superficial shapes of a metallic oxide film formed on a substrate surface is such that the superficial shapes of the metallic oxide film are such that an arithmetic average roughness Ra is 4-8 nm, a maximum roughness (maximum irregularity difference) Rz is 40-70 nm, a 10-point average roughness RzJIS is 20-60 nm, and pitches between irregularities are 10-300 nm, the Ra, Rz, RzJIS and pitches measured by an atomic force microscope. The metallic oxide film of such superficial shapes is useful as a hydrophilic mirror, and can be used appropriately as automotive outer mirrors.

Abstract: The present invention relates to a metallic oxide film which exhibits a high hardness and is good in terms of the transparency, and which exhibits a hydrophilic property, a defogging and dirtproof property and a self-cleaning property over a long period of time, a production process for the same, and a hydrophilic mirror comprising this hydrophilic metallic oxide film. The present invention is characterized in that the superficial shapes of a metallic oxide film formed on a substrate surface is such that the superficial shapes of the metallic oxide film are such that an arithmetic average roughness Ra is 4-8 nm, a maximum roughness (maximum irregularity difference) Rz is 40-70 nm, a 10-point average roughness RzJIS is 20-60 nm, and pitches between irregularities are 10-300 nm, the Ra, Rz, RzJIS and pitches measured by an atomic force microscope. The metallic oxide film of such superficial shapes is useful as a hydrophilic mirror, and can be used appropriately as automotive outer mirrors.

Abstract: A laminated piezoelectric actuator includes piezoelectric plates, and inner electrode layers composed of an electrode material. The piezoelectric plates and the inner electrode layers are laminated alternately. The electrode material includes a metallic component, and an electrically conductive oxide. When the electrically conductive oxide, in which the oxygen ions works as carriers, is added to the electrode material, oxygen is supplied into the operating piezoelectric plates from the inner electrode layers. As a result, the piezoelectric plates are inhibited from degrading.

Abstract: There is provided a desulphurization apparatus to be mounted in automobiles, which is arranged between a fuel tank and an injector of an engine, the apparatus comprising a combination of a sulfur-containing compound adsorbent for adsorbing and concentrating the sulfur-containing compound and a sulfur-containing compound oxidizing agent or oxidation catalyst for oxidizing the adsorbed sulfur-containing compound, the apparatus further comprising a means for recovering and removing the resulting sulfur-containing oxide. According to this apparatus, the quantity of the particulate matter in an exhaust gas is reduced by half and the durability of the catalyst for removing a nitrogen oxide is improved by a factor of about two.

Abstract: A laminated piezoelectric actuator includes piezoelectric plates, and inner electrode layers composed of an electrode material. The piezoelectric plates and the inner electrode layers are laminated alternately. The electrode material includes a metallic component, and an electrically conductive oxide. When the electrically conductive oxide, in which the oxygen ions works as carriers, is added to the electrode material, oxygen is supplied into the operating piezoelectric plates from the inner electrode layers. As a result, the piezoelectric plates are inhibited from degrading.

Abstract: There is provided a desulphurization apparatus to be mounted in automobiles, which is arranged between a fuel tank and an injector of an engine, the apparatus comprising a combination of a sulfur-containing compound adsorbent for adsorbing and concentrating the sulfur-containing compound and a sulfur-containing compound oxidizing agent or oxidation catalyst for oxidizing the adsorbed sulfur-containing compound, the apparatus further comprising a means for recovering and removing the resulting sulfur-containing oxide. According to this apparatus, the quantity of the particulate matter in an exhaust gas is reduced by half and the durability of the catalyst for removing a nitrogen oxide is improved by a factor of about two.

Abstract: A rare earth oxide superconducting material represented by REBa.sub.2 2Cu.sub.3 O.sub.y (RE is Y, Gd, Dy, Ito, Er or Yb), comprises oxide grains and at least one element selected from Rh and Pt, uniformly dispersed in the grain in a proportion of 0.01-5% by weight (in terms of element) based on the rare earth oxide superconducting material. The rare earth oxide superconducting material can be produced by a melt processing and gives a high critical current density even in a highly magnetic field.

Abstract: Disclosed are an oxide superconductor, and an optimum process for producing the same. The oxide superconductor comprises a base material phase including an oxide superconducting material, the oxide superconducting material including barium (Ba) at least and being free from grain boundaries, and precipitation phases contained in an amount of 1 to 50% by volume in the base material phase and dotted therein in a manner like islands, the precipitation phases being oxides of a metal selected from the group consisting of silicon (Si), aluminum (Al), zirconium (Zr), magnesium (Mg), titanium (Ti), strontium (Sr), tungsten (W), cobalt (Co) and vanadium (V), and being products of decomposition reaction of the base material phase. In the production process, the constituent materials are treated thermally at a partially melting temperature in order to give the above-described novel structure to the oxide superconductor.