This is a concise, up-to-date book that covers a wide range of important ceramic materials used in modern technology. Chapters provide essential information on the nature of these key ceramic raw materials including their structure, properties, processing methods and applications in engineering and technology. Treatment is provided on materials such as alumina, aluminates, Andalusite, kyanite, and sillimanite. The chapter authors are leading experts in the field of ceramic materials. An ideal text for graduate students and practising engineers in ceramic engineering, metallurgy, and materials science and engineering.

Volume 32 of Reviews in Mineralogy introduces the basic concepts of melt physics and relaxation theory as applied to silicate melts, then to describe the current state of experimental and computer simulation techniques for exploring the detailed atomic structure and dynamic processes which occur at high temperature, and finally to consider the relationships between melt structure, thermodynamic properties and rheology within these liquids. These fundamental relations serve to bridge the extrapolation from often highly simplified melt compositions studied in the laboratory to the multicomponent systems found in nature. This volume focuses on the properties of simple model silicate systems, which are usually volatile-free. The behavior of natural magmas has been summarized in a previous Short Course volume (Nicholls and Russell, editors, 1990: Reviews in Mineralogy, Vol. 24), and the effect of volatiles on magmatic properties in yet another (Carroll and Holloway, editors, 1994: Vol. 30). The Mineralogical Society of America sponsored a short course for which this was the text at Stanford University December 9 and 10, 1995, preceding the Fall Meeting of the American Geophysical Union and MSA in San Fransisco, with about 100 professionals and graduate students in attendance.

Volume 71 of Reviews in Mineralogy and Geochemistry represents an extensive review of the material presented by the invited speakers at a short course on Theoretical and Computational Methods in Mineral Physics held prior (December 10-12, 2009) to the Annual fall meeting of the American Geophysical Union in San Francisco, California. The meeting was held at the Doubletree Hotel & Executive Meeting Center in Berkeley, California. Contents: Density functional theory of electronic structure: a short course for mineralogists and geophysicists The Minnesota density functionals and their applications to problems in mineralogy and geochemistry Density-functional perturbation theory for quasi-harmonic calculations Thermodynamic properties and phase relations in mantle minerals investigated by first principles quasiharmonic theory First principles quasiharmonic thermoelasticity of mantle minerals An overview of quantum Monte Carlo methods Quantum Monte Carlo studies of transition metal oxides Accurate and efficient calculations on strongly correlated minerals with the LDA+U method: review and perspectives Spin-state crossover of iron in lower-mantle minerals: results of DFT+U investigations Simulating diffusion Modeling dislocations and plasticity of deep earth materials Theoretical methods for calculating the lattice thermal conductivity of minerals Evolutionary crystal structure prediction as a method for the discovery of minerals and materials Multi-Mbar phase transitions in minerals Computer simulations on phase transitions in ice Iron at Earth’s core conditions from first principles calculations First-principles molecular dynamics simulations of silicate melts: structural and dynamical properties Lattice dynamics from force-fields as a technique for mineral physics An efficient cluster expansion method for binary solid solutions: application to the halite-silvite, NaCl-KCl, system Large scale simulations Thermodynamics of the Earth’s mantle

There has been a lack of authoritative, current information on the structure, investigation and preparation of inorganic sorbents, their numerous applications as well as the adsorption from gaseous and liquid phases on new and chemically modified inorganic solids. This volume deals with the above-mentioned themes and presents 34 up-to-date comprehensive and critical reviews written by well-recognized authorities. The sorbents discussed are primarily mineral ones. Each contribution treats a problem critically by showing its development, presenting documentation on the state-of-the-art and identifying subjects for further research. The book will be of interest to researchers in academic institutes and industrial laboratories engaged in the fields of surface chemistry, inorganic chemistry, adsorption, ion-exchange, catalysis, chromatography and spectroscopy of the surface phenomena, as well as to students attending graduate and postgraduate courses.

This book brings together researchers from various backgrounds dealing with the manifestations of the glassy or liquid state of matter, and with the ubiquitous characteristics of the structure and dynamic properties. The goal of this book is to compare the relative merits of different theoretical, computational and experimental approaches to the subject, and to promote the exchange of ideas between the individual disciplines. Papers reflect state-of-the-art knowledge on processes involved in glass formation, and on the relationships between structure and properties of glass-forming liquids, synthetic polymers and biopolymers. Emphasis is on novel experimental techniques, developments in computational methods, and on recent theoretical models which are improving the understanding of the observed phenomena. Topics include: short-time dynamics; relaxation dynamics of glasses and glass formers; glass-like systems, simulations and models; contrasting metallic, ionic, bio and polymer systems; structure, energetics and polyamorphism; and structure and dynamics of glasses and glass formers.

Volume 42 of Reviews in Mineralogy and Geochemistry covers the Applications in the Geosciences via Molecular Modeling Theory. We hope the content of this review volume will help the interested reader to quickly develop an appreciation for the fundamental theories behind the molecular modeling tools and to become aware of the limits in applying these state-of-the-art methods to solve geosciences problems. The review chapters in this volume were the basis for a short course on molecular modeling theory jointly sponsored by the Geochemical Society (GS) and the Mineralogical Society of America (MSA) May 18-20, 2001 in Roanoke, Virginia which was held prior to the 2001 Goldschmidt Conference in nearby Hot Springs, Virginia.