Notes

[1] It seems that there hasn’t been a exact and complete definition about advanced ceramics so far, but from a viewpoint of modern engineering and technology, advanced ceramics (differentiating from traditional household ceramics) may be defined as the new engineering materials composed of some special kinds of metallic oxides (e.g. alumina or corundum and zirconia) or carbides or nitrides of metallic and nonmetallic elements (e.g. tungsten carbide, silicon carbide, boron nitride, silicon nitride etc.)

句意：迄今为止，似乎还没有一个关于先进陶瓷材料的确切而完整的定义，但按照现代工程技术的观点，与传统的家用陶瓷材料不同的是，我们可以将先进陶瓷材料定义为由某些特殊金属氧化物［如氧化铝（或称为刚玉）和氧化锆］，或者金属和非金属元素的碳化物和氮化物（如碳化钨、碳化硅、氮化硼、氮化硅等）组成的一类新型工程材料。

[2] A composite material is a combination of two or more chemically distinct and insoluble phases; its properties and structural performance are superior to those of the constituents acting independently.

句意：复合材料是由两种以上化学性质完全不同，且互不相溶的相构成的，它的性质和结构特征要比各组成相单独作用时更加优越。

[3] Nanomaterials refer to those materials, at least one of whose three dimensions is at the nano-scale(1-100nm) and hence we may have nano-powders, nano-fibers and nano-films.

句意：纳米材料指的是这样一类材料：在它们的三维尺寸中至少有一维是在纳米尺度(1～100 nm)以内，因而有所谓的纳米粉、纳米纤维和纳米薄膜等。

[4] However, we can not classified them in nature as distinct from other four common engineering materials, i.e. metals, ceramics, composite and macromolecular materials because various nano-materials developed so far are all composed of one or combination of the above four materials.

句意：然而，我们却不能将它们在本质上与其他4种常用的工程材料即金属、陶瓷、复合材料和高分子材料区分开来，因为迄今为止所开发的各种纳米材料都不外乎是由以上4种工程材料中的一种或几种组合而成的。

[5] For example, nano-powders have very large specific surface area, up to hundreds even thousands of square meters per gram, making them become highly active adsorbents and catalysts with wide application prospect in organic synthesis and environmental protection.

句意：例如，纳米粉具有极大的比表面积，甚至可达每克数千平方米，使它们成为活性极高的吸附剂或催化剂，在有机合成和环境保护领域具有广阔的应用前景。

[6] Stainless steels are characterized primarily by their corrosion resistance, high strength and ductility, and high chromium content. They are called stainless because in the presence of oxygen (air) they develop a thin, hard adherent film of chromium oxide that protects the metal from corrosion (passivation). This protective film builds up again in the event that the surface is scratched.

句意：不锈钢的主要特点是它们具有很好的耐蚀性，强度高，延展性好，铬含量高。之所以被称为不锈钢，是因为在有氧环境下会生成一层牢牢附着在表面的氧化铬薄膜，从而保护其不被腐蚀（所谓钝化作用）。即使金属表面受到刮擦而破损，这层保护膜还会继续生成。

[7] Porous Aluminum Blocks of aluminum have recently been produced that are 37% lighter than solid aluminum and have uniform permeability (microporosity). This characteristic allows their use in applications where a vacuum or differential pressure has to be maintained. Examples are the vacuum holding of fixtures for assembly and automation and the vacuum forming or thermoforming of plastics.

句意：多孔铝是最近才生产出的新材料，因为含有均匀分布的细小微孔，所以它比实体铝块轻37%。这种特性使它们可在需要保持真空或压差的环境下得到应用（由于可通过微孔非常均匀和方便地抽成真空）。例如，用于装配和自动化操作的真空吸紧夹具，以及塑料的真空成形和热成形工艺。