The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Oct. 14, 2003
Filed:
Dec. 02, 2002
Anil Vasudeo Virkar, Salt Lake City, UT (US);
Jan-Fong Jue, Salt Lake City, UT (US);
Kuan-Zong Fung, Salt Lake City, UT (US);
Materials and Systems Research, Inc., Salt Lake City, UT (US);
Abstract
A ceramic composite containing alkali-metal-beta- or beta″-alumina and an oxygen-ion conductor is fabricated by converting alpha-alumina to alkali-metal-beta- or beta″-alumina. A ceramic composite with continuous phases of alpha-alumina and the oxygen-ion conducting ceramic, such as zirconia, is exposed to a vapor containing an alkali-metal oxide, such as an oxide of sodium or potassium. Alkali metal ions diffuse through alkali-metal-beta- or beta″-alumina converted from &agr;-alumina and oxygen ions diffuse through the oxygen-ion conducting ceramic to a reaction front where alpha-alumina is converted to alkali-metal-beta- or beta″-alumina. A stabilizer for alkali-metal-beta″-alumina is preferably introduced into the &agr;-alumina/oxygen-ion conductor composite or introduced into the vapor used to convert the alpha-alumina to an alkali-metal-beta″-alumina.