Back to results
US 11,629,396 B2Granted
Activated aluminum fuel
AssigneeLtag Systems LLC
InventorJonathan T. Slocum
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Aluminum can be used as a fuel source when reacted with water if its native surrounding oxide coating is penetrated with a gallium-based eutectic. When discrete aluminum objects are treated in a heated bath of eutectic, the eutectic penetrates the oxide coating. After the aluminum objects are treated, the aluminum objects can be reacted in a reactor to produce hydrogen which can, for example, react with oxygen in a fuel cell to produce electricity, for use in a variety of applications.
Claims18
A kit of material comprising:
- at least one cold worked aluminum object having a surface defining a volume, the surface including an aluminum oxide layer, and the at least one cold worked aluminum object including a plastically deformed and non-recrystallized aluminum alloy having misaligned grains defining grain boundaries;
- a container heatable to a temperature not more than about 200° C.;
- and
- a eutectic alloy including indium and gallium, the eutectic alloy disposed in the container and separate from the at least one cold worked aluminum object,
- wherein,
- within the container, the eutectic alloy is introducible into the grain boundaries of the plastically deformed and non-recrystallized aluminum alloy, via disruptions in the aluminum oxide layer of the surface of the at least one cold worked aluminum object, with the eutectic alloy concentrated along the grain boundaries of the plastically deformed and non-recrystallized aluminum alloy to form activated aluminum, and
- the at least one cold worked aluminum object and the eutectic alloy are in relative amounts combinable to form the activated aluminum having greater than zero percent and less than about 3 percent of the eutectic alloy by mass and reactive with water to yield greater than about 80 percent and less than about 95 percent of a theoretical yield of hydrogen.
4 more elements
A kit of material comprising:
- at least one cold worked aluminum object including a plastically deformed and non-recrystallized aluminum alloy;
- and
- a gallium-containing eutectic alloy, the gallium-containing eutectic alloy separate from the at least one cold worked aluminum object, the at least one cold worked aluminum object and the gallium-containing eutectic alloy in relative amounts combinable to form activated aluminum with greater than zero percent and less than 4 percent of the eutectic alloy by mass.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.