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To produce useful information about the raw materials used in northern Chinese Yaozhou celadon glazes Chinese glazes (especially the source of the calcium‐bearing flux), Sr isotope analysis has been used for the first time. Yaozhou celadon is one of the most important representatives of northern Chinese greenware. The study has enhanced our understanding of the raw material sources used to make Yaozhou glazes dating from the Tang to Northern Song dynasties. It is highly likely that ‘Fuping stone’ mentioned in the historical record is not the main raw material used to make Yaozhou celadon glazes of the Tang to Northern Song dynasties. The results of 87Sr/86Sr analysis of the Yaozhou celadon glazes studied produce relatively consistent 87Sr/86Sr isotopic signatures, with a wide variation of relatively high Sr concentrations. This is firm evidence that a calcium‐bearing plant ash was the source of the calcium and of the flux in the Celedon glazes studied, and not, as some have suggested, limestone or ‘Liaojiang stone’. The study had illustrated that the present approach has great potential in providing a new way of reconstructing porcelain glaze technology.

A Ti3AlC2/Al2O3 nanocomposite was synthesized using Ti, Al, C and TiO2 as raw materials by a novel combination of high-energy milling and hot pressing. The reaction path of the 3Ti-8C-16Al-9TiO2 mixture of powders was investigated, and the results show that the transitional phases TiC, TixAly and Al2O3 are formed in high-energy milling first, and then TixAly is transformed to the TiAl phase during the hot pressing. Finally, a reaction between TiC and TiAl occurs to produce Ti3AlC2 and the nanosized Ti3AlC2/Al2O3 composite is synthesized. The Ti3AlC2/Al2O3 composite possessed a good combination of mechanical properties with a hardness of 6.0 GPa, a flexural strength of 600 MPa, and a fracture toughness (K1C) of 5.8 MPa•m1/2. The strengthening and toughening mechanisms were also discussed

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