ZnO and ZnO/ZnFe2O4 nanocomposites were synthesized by mechanical-assisted thermal decomposition method. The results show that this method is a simple and low cost method to prepare ZnO and ZnO/ ZnFe2O4 nanocomposites. The nanorod's shape and size have been identified through SEM and TEM. The photocatalytic activity of ZnO and ZnO/ZnFe2O4 nanocomposites were tested by the degradation of methylene blue (MB) in aqueous medium under almost-visible light and the efficiency of the catalyst has been discussed in detail.

Phase-pure nanostructured WB ceramics are hot pressed at ultrahigh pressures of 1.0 to 3.0 GPa and high temperatures of 700 to 1000 °C (UHPHT) for 60 min. The UHPHT samples are nanograin size from 15 to 40 nm. Our experimental observation shows that ultrahigh pressure could improve densification, and the density of WB samples could reach 99.4% of theoretical. The comparative experiments carried out at ambient pressure and temperatures of 550 to 1100 °C for 60 min indicate that the external pressure was favorable for phase-pure and highly dense WB formation. In addition, the UHPHT samples give a high hardness value of 28.9 ± 0.8 GPa.

Cubic boron nitride (cBN) composites starting with cBN–Al mixtures were sintered on WC-16 wt% Co substrates under static high pressure of 5.0 GPa and at temperatures of 800–1400 °C for 30 min. Vickers hardness of the sintered samples increased with increasing cBN content, and the highest hardness of 32.7 GPa was achieved for the cBN–5 wt% Al specimens sintered at 1400 °C. The reactions between cBN and Al started to occur at about 900 °C, and the reaction products strongly depended on the Al content, sintering temperature, and Co diffusion from the substrates according to the x-ray diffraction (XRD) observations. The high pressure and high temperature in situ resistance measurement indicated that the reactions between cBN and Al could be completed in about 90 s when the temperature was higher than ∼1200 °C at high pressure. The cBN composite sintered at 1200 °C from a cBN–15 wt% Al mixture showed the best cutting performance.