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[Oct 2006]
Spheric Technologies Awarded Patent for Manufacturing Metal Oxides and Hydrogen
Spheric Technologies Inc (Phoenix, AZ, USA), marketer of patented microwave powdered metal processing systems and producer of advanced oxides and other ceramic powders, has announced it has been awarded a patent for "Process and Apparatus for Manufacturing Metal Oxides and Byproduct Hydrogen" (U.S. Patent 7,105,079).
The company's process is less expensive and environmentally cleaner than conventional chemical processing methods used to obtain technical-grade oxides. With Spheric Technologies' process, the resulting high purity powders have uniform particle size and density, making them useful in a wide variety of applications. More than US$2 billion worth of high purity metal oxides were used in 2005 for a wide range of industrial applications, including: structural ceramics energy storage (batteries) and fuel cell membranes; semiconductor fabrication (CMP slurries); optic coatings; nanomaterials; biomaterials and medical implants; laboratory and catalytic use.
In Spheric Technologies' newly patented process, sacrificial electrodes of high purity metal are immersed in water; when current is applied, an electric arc occurs and a plasma zone is created in the water between the electrodes. The plasma zone is maintained so that metal oxide and hydrogen are continuously produced. The patent also covers the method of extraction of the valuable end products from the process chamber.
The original production apparatus used in the company's early (2004) R&D phase was a stainless steel sphere, which gave rise to the name Spheric Technologies.
"Like our patented industrial microwave technology, this high-purity metal oxide and hydrogen production technology is cleaner, quicker, more efficient and reliable than traditional methods," said Spheric Technologies President Joseph Hines. "We have produced oxides of magnesium, aluminum, copper, nickel, zinc and silver, in excess of 99.9% purity. Particle size is typically less than 2.5 microns and as small as 200 nanometers."
Hines noted that the company's metal oxides can be processed using its patented industrial microwave technology to produce high value end products, such as sputtering targets for thin film deposition.www.spherictechnologies.com
ENDS