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:
Nov. 02, 2004
Filed:
Oct. 26, 2001
Applicant:
Inventors:
Glen Fryxell, Kennewick, WA (US);
Thomas S. Zemanian, Richland, WA (US);
Assignee:
Battelle Memorial Institute, Richland, WA (US);
Attorney:
Primary Examiner:
Int. Cl.
CPC ...
C01B 3/314 ; C01B 3/320 ;
U.S. Cl.
CPC ...
C01B 3/314 ; C01B 3/320 ;
Abstract
Aerogels having a high density of hydroxyl groups and a more uniform pore size with fewer bottlenecks are described. The aerogel is exposed to a mixture of a supercritical fluid and water, whereupon the aerogel forms a high density of hydroxyl groups. The process also relaxes the aerogel into a more open uniform internal structure, in a process referred to as hydroetching. The hydroetching process removes bottlenecks from the aerogels, and forms the hydrogels into more standard pore sizes while preserving their high surface area.