Nanosized ceramic plasma catalyst for stabilizing and assisting plasma combustion
AssigneeEfenco Oü
InventorsAleksander Nagornõi, Aleksandr Vlasov, Kristjan Tiik, Peter Alexander Woolsey
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A new plasma catalyst in the form of a ceramic-matrix nanocomposite is disclosed for application to the plasma-assisted combustion. The new functionality of the nanoceramic plasma catalyst is driven by the synergistic effect of plasma and solids. The plasma catalyst is based on combinations of valve metal oxides, polar transition-metal oxides, rare-earth oxides and phosphides, alkali metal oxides, silicon oxides and nitrides, etc. are disclosed. The advantage of combining a heterogeneous catalytic and plasma catalytic effect allows utility for large area applications and is scalable for large-scale industries.
Claims16
A plasma catalyst in the form of a ceramic-matrix nanocomposite for initiation and sustaining plasma-assisted combustion, said ceramic-matrix nanocomposite being a structure comprising:
- (1) at least a first part and a second part, said first part comprising a nanoporous wafer, and said second part comprising a plurality of crystalline nanowhiskers;
- wherein said nanoporous wafer comprises at least one of the following components:
- (a) a metal oxide selected from the following IUPAC groups of the Periodic Table:
- (i) Group 4 metal oxides of Ti, Zr, and Hf, (ii) Group 5 metal oxides of V, Nb, and Ta, (iii) Group 6 metal oxide of W, and (iv) Group 13 metal oxide of Al, (b) silicon or silicon dioxide, and (c) silicon carbide;
- and
- wherein each of the plurality of the crystalline nanowhiskers has a diameter of 1 to 100 nm and an aspect ratio length to diameter of more than 100 and comprises at least one of the following materials:
- (i) a perovskite poly- and/or single-crystal ferroelectric material with pyroelectric properties, (ii) a transition metal, or (iii) a conductive metal-oxide-metal ceramic, and (iv) complexes thereof;
- and
- (2) a top cover in the form of a multilayer thin film or wafer covering said first and second parts, said top cover comprising at least the following three layers:
- a catalyst grid;
- an oxidation and alkaline preventing layer;
- and
- a transparent conductive oxide ceramic layer.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.