Crystalline nanocatalysts for improving combustion properties of fuels and fuel compositions incorporating such catalysts

A fuel composition having modified combustion properties, comprising:

• a fuel substrate;
• a plurality of nanocatalyst particles on and/or mixed with said fuel substrate, said nanocatalyst particles having a size less than 1 micron and being comprised of:
• a plurality of primary catalyst atoms selected from the group consisting of chromium, manganese, iron, cobalt, nickel, copper, zirconium, tin, zinc, tungsten, titanium, molybdenum, and vanadium;
• at least a portion of the catalyst atoms forming a crystal lattice having a plurality of crystal planes exposed at a surface thereof, wherein the spacing between the crystal planes is greater than about 0.28 nm;
• and
• a plurality of organic dispersing agent molecules bonded to at least a portion of the catalyst atoms, each dispersing agent molecule comprising one or more functional groups selected from the group consisting of a hydroxyl, a carboxyl, a carbonyl, an amine, an amide, a nitrile, a nitrogen having a free lone pair of electrons, an amino acid, an amine, a thiol, a sulfonic acid, a sulfonyl halide, and an acyl halide, wherein the dispersing agent molecules are bonded with the catalyst atoms through the one or more functional groups.

A method of making metal catalyst nanoparticles for use in modifying combustion properties of a fuel, comprising:

• providing a plurality of primary catalyst atoms selected from group consisting of chromium, manganese, iron, cobalt, nickel, copper, zirconium, tin, zinc, tungsten, titanium, molybdenum, and vanadium;
• and
• providing a dispersing agent comprising a plurality of molecules having one or more functional groups selected from the group consisting of a hydroxyl, a carboxyl, a carbonyl, an amine, an amide, a nitrile, a nitrogen having a free lone pair of electrons, an amino acid, an amine, a thiol, a sulfonic acid, a sulfonyl halide, and an acyl halide.
• reacting the catalyst atoms with the dispersing agent in a solvent to form a plurality of complexed catalyst atoms;
• causing or allowing the complexed catalyst atoms to form nanocatalyst particles having a size less than about 1 micron;
• and
• activating the catalyst atoms by heating the nanocatalyst particles to a temperature greater than 75° C.