Processes and apparatuses for producing porous materials
AssigneePacker Engineering, Inc.
InventorsJohn C. Christenson, Peter J. Schubert
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Abstract
Processes and apparatuses for producing a porous material, such as nano-porous silicon (npSi) media suitable for storage and retrieval of elemental hydrogen. Processes of this invention generally entail applying a magnetic field to a substrate that contains charge carriers and is in contact with an etchant, and then etching the substrate with the etchant while relative movement occurs between the substrate and the magnetic field. During etching, the charge carriers move relative to the substrate and the magnetic field, and porosity forms at surfaces of the substrate contacting the etchant.
Claims28
A process for producing a porous material, the process comprising:
- applying a magnetic field to a substrate containing charge carriers and contacting an etchant;
- and
- etching the substrate with the etchant while relative movement occurs between the substrate and the magnetic field, the charge carriers moving through the substrate and relative to the magnetic field, and some of the charge carriers migrating to at least one surface of the substrate contacting the etchant so as to form porosity at the surface.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.