Jiang Dongliang, a top academician in the Chinese Academy of Sciences, has led a six-person delegation of researchers from our institute to attend the “The 2nd International Symposium on SiAlONs and Non-Oxides” in Iseshima, Japan recently (“The 1st SiAlONs International Symposium” has been held in 2001).

A gathering of 128 delegates from the United States, England, Ireland, Germany, Sweden, Turkey, Slovakia, Poland, Australia, New Zealand, Korea, Japan, China and Taiwan have attended the conference. They are among the most active and influential researchers in the SiAlONs and Non-Oxides field. The symposium had seven main topics such as SiAlON, nitrides, carbides, composites, functional materials, powder processing and numerical modeling of materials, about which there were 86 oral presentations and 30 posters. The delegates from our institute presented their representative research results at the conference. Professor JIANG Dongliang, Professor GAO Lian and Professor ZHANG Guo-Jun were invited to give presentations entitled “Gelcasting of carbide ceramics”, “Preparation and properties of electroconductive nitride composites”, and “Reactive processing of boride ceramic composites”,respectively. Professor LIU Qian, associate professor ZHANG Jingxian, and Dr. XUE Junming made presentations entitled “Tribological performance of translucent α–Sialon ceramics”, “Aqueous processing of boron carbide powders”, and “Effects of processing on microstructure and properties of translucent Dy—Sialon sintered at lower temperatures”, respectively.

This international symposium reflected the latest research directions and hot topics of related fields as follows:
1. Luminescent property research of SiAlONs and related compounds, their applications as down-conversion phosphors in light emitting diodes (LEDs).
2. In-depth understanding of the kinetics and thermodynamics in preparation of SiAlONs and non-oxide materials.
3. Breakthroughs in synthesis methods of nano-powders: New methods for synthesizing non-oxide powders.
4. Research on integrational properties and applications of SiAlONs and non-oxides, including wave and light transmissivity.
5. Research on preparation methods of related materials under extreme environments: high pressure synthesis, low temperature sintering, slip casting under strong magnetic fields and reactive sintering.
6. Potential applications of SiAlONs and related compounds in energy and the environment.
7. The increasing need for structural ceramics in industry has greatly stimulated the advancement of research and development. The Japanese companies Toshiba, NGK Insulator Ltd., Sumitomo Osaka Cement Ltd., and Ibiden Ltd. all sent delegates to the symposium to give presentations on the topic.

A 4-member delegation led by Professor ZHOU Yanchun from the Institute of Metal, Chinese Academy of Sciences also participated this symposium. The research results of the scientists of the Chinese Academy of Sciences attracted extensive attention. This international symposium will surely stimulate a new upsurge in SiAlON and non-oxide research and promote new progress from our institute in the structural ceramics research field.