Metal body having large surface area and process for producing same

Abstract

A metal body having a very large surface area and high porosity, useful as a gasoline vaporizer, a heat exchanger for automobiles, a catalyst or catalyst carrier, a filter, or the like, and composed of a plurality of metal fibers which are entangled with one another to form a bed or stratum, the metal fibers being coated with a metal in such manner that the stratum provides rough and complex surfaces with cracks and irregularities. The invention also includes a process for making said metal body including the steps of entangling metal fibers to form a bed, placing the bed of fibers in contact with a coating metal, heating the fiber bed and coating metal so as to wet the fibers with molten coating metal, and cooling.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.