Reactor process using metal oxide ceramic membranes
AssigneeWisconsin Alumni Research Foundation
InventorMarc A. Anderson
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Abstract
A reaction vessel for use in photoelectrochemical reactions includes as its reactive surface a metal oxide porous ceramic membrane of a catalytic metal such as titanium. The reaction vessel includes a light source and a counter electrode. A provision for applying an electrical bias between the membrane and the counter electrode permits the Fermi levels of potential reaction to be favored so that certain reactions may be favored in the vessel. The electrical biasing is also useful for the cleaning of the catalytic membrane. Also disclosed is a method regenerating a porous metal oxide ceramic membrane used in a photoelectrochemical catalytic process by periodically removing the reactants and regenerating the membrane using a variety of chemical, thermal, and electrical techniques.
Claims5
A method of utilizing a catalytic metal oxide ceramic membrane to perform photoelectrochemical processing comprising the steps of
- providing a reaction vessel in which reactants are exposed to catalytic action by a transition metal element in a porous metal oxide ceramic membrane;
- introducing reactants into the vessel to be catalyzed by the catalytic transition metal element in the membrane;
- periodically removing reactant from the vessel;
- and
- regenerating the membrane by removing any contaminants therefrom so that the catalytic transition metal element is exposed for further chemical processing.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.