Carbon nanotube reinforced aluminum (Al) composites were produced by hot-press and hot-extrusion methods. The interfacial structure between the carbon nanotube and Al was examined using a transmission electron microscope (TEM), and the mechanical properties were measured by a tensile test. TEM observations have shown that the nanotubes in the composites are not damaged during the composite preparation and that no reaction products at the nanotube/Al interface are visible after annealing for 24 h at 983 K. The strength of the composites is only slightly affected by the annealing time at 873 K, while that of the pure Al produced in a similar powder metallurgy process significantly decreases with time. These studies are considered to yield experimental information valuable for producing high performance composites.

Carbon nanotubes, a kind of high order fullerenes, offers remarkable electronic as well as mechanical properties, e.g., an extremely high Young’s modulus of TPa order has been reported. This suggests the suitability of carbon nanotubes as novel fiber materials for metal matrix composites. The authors demonstrate that Ti/ nanotube composites show a large increase in hardness and Young’s modulus as compared to pure Ti. This makes the composite an attractive advanced material for future applications.

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In the present aging society, easy-to-use dosage forms for elderly patients, whose swallowing function is often decreased, are in a great demand. It was shown that conventional tablets, capsules, and liquid or syrup preparations were not always easy-to-use dosage forms for elderly patients because of their decreased motor function.1,2) To deal with the demand, great efforts have been made to develop paste preparations and rapidly disintegrating tablets in the oral cavity, using jelly, water-absorbing and swelling gelated materials, or water-soluble polymers.