PPG Industries Develops Method for Combinatorial Discovery of Nanomaterials

PPG Industries Ohio, Inc. (Cleveland, OH) earned U.S. Patent 7,776,383 for combinatorial discovery of nanomaterials for a wide variety of applications.

Inventors Tapesh Yadav and Clayton  Kostelecky developed methods used to discover of ceramic nanomaterial suitable for various applications by preparing an array of first layer of electrodes and printing ceramic nanomaterial films on the electrodes. A second layer of electrodes is printed on the nanomaterial films of ceramics to form an electroded film array. The electroded film array is sintered. Properties of the sintered electroded film array are measured and one of the array elements with properties suited for a particular application is identified.

Alternative catalytic materials have the potential to exert an enormous impact on the chemical and energy industries. These industries are two of the largest in the U.S., with individual sales exceeding several hundred billion dollars. About 90% of chemical and energy processes and over 20% of U.S. industrial products in general involve catalysis. 

PPG Industries’ invention includes several methods of making non-stoichiometric submicron and nanostructured materials and devices from both stoichiometric and non-stoichiometric precursors. This includes methods of making stoichiometric materials and devices from non-stoichiometric precursors. In one aspect, the method includes an improved sintering technique utilizing submicron non-stoichiometric powders. It also includes a variety of other applications for submicron non-stoichiometric materials, including catalysis, photonic devices, electrical devices and components, magnetic materials and devices, sensors, biomedical devices, electrochemical products, and energy and ion conductors. 

Breakthroughs in catalytic materials can lower operating costs associated with energy, raw materials and environmental improvement; reduce capital costs for investment in new processing technologies; accelerate discovery of competitive and environmentally superior process chemistries; enable novel products and technologies; and reduce dependence on precious metals for catalytic applications. Clearly, the significance of innovation in catalytic materials is high. Combinatorial screening offers an opportunity to rapidly develop new catalytic materials.