Basic Studies on the Development for Ceramic/Metal/Organic Intermaterials

在这个研究项目中，我们专注于开发具有优异多功能的互材料。几十年来，我们一直致力于以陶瓷为基础的纳米复合材料的设计，并成功地开发了几种纳米复合材料。基于这一理念，我们将材料系统扩展到金属和有机复合材料。这些结果表明，通过纳米和分子水平的控制，材料具有多种功能的可能性。因此，我们专注于开发陶瓷/金属/有机体系的高性能材料，即“Intermaterial”。在本研究中，获得了以下结果：(1)通过开发新的材料加工方法，在氮化硅、氧化铝和氧化锆陶瓷中制备了多种陶瓷基纳米复合材料。这些材料表现出优异的机械、磁性和电学性能。这些性质都可以用陶瓷基体中纳米级第二相分散的尺寸效应来解释。(2)在陶瓷中加入少量掺杂剂，可以在分子水平上对材料结构进行修饰。这些材料似乎是单片相，但被发现具有原子和/或簇（分子）水平的不均匀性，以显示增强的性能。(3)利用超声辅助自组织法制备了陶瓷/金属复合材料和聚合物/陶瓷复合材料。这些材料可以在室温下制备，不需要任何热能。对于聚合物/陶瓷材料，通过添加导电颗粒实现了新的触觉传感。这种材料的电子导电性随外加应力的变化而变化，因此观察到优异的响应。此外，这种复合材料已作为触觉传感器在商业上得到应用。综上所述，本研究项目先后开展了由陶瓷、金属和有机材料组成的新型原子、团簇和纳米级间材料的开发工作。这些结果可能是一种新型材料“间材料”的初读案例，它可以解决即将到来的21世纪的各种问题。少

In this research project, we have focused on the development of intermaterials with excellent multifunctionality. For over the decades we have concentrated to design nanocomposite with ceramic-based materials, and succeeded to develop several kinds of the nanocomposites. Based on this concept we extend the materials system to metal and organic composites. All of these result imply us the possibility of multiple functionality of materials with the nano-and molecular-level control. Therefore we have concentrated to develop such high-performance materials in ceramic/metal/organic system, that is "Intermaterial".In this research, followed results have been obtained.(1) By developing new materials processing method, several kinds of ceramic-based nanocomposites have been fabricated in silicon nitride, alumina and zirconia ceramics. These materials exhibited excellent multiple properties in mechanical, magnetic and electric functions. All these properties were explained by the size effect of … More nanosized second phase dispersion in ceramic matrices.(2) When small amount of dopant was added into ceramics, materials structures have been modified in molecular-level. These materials seems to be monolithic phase but was found to have atomic and/or cluster (molecular) leveled inhomogeneity to show enhanced properties.(3) Ceramic/metal and polymer/ceramic composite materials have been successively prepared by using ultrasonic-assisted self-organization processes. These materials could be prepared at room-temperature without any thermal energies. For the polymer/ceramic materials, novel tactile sensing has been achieved by addition of conductive particles. This material varied its electron conductivity by applied stresses and thus excellent response have been observed. Also this composites have commercially applied as a tactile sensor.In conclusion this research project has successively conducted to develop novel intermaterials consisted of ceramic, metal and organic materials composed at atomic, cluster and nanometer-scale. All these results might be a first reading case for the new kind of material "intermaterial" which can solve various problem toward the coming 21st century. Less