Quality control in cold fusion. Cold fusion has suffered from little or no quality control on the materials used in its reactions.
I believe that Rossi’s big accomplishment is bringing quality control to the fabrication of his materials. After Rossi finally discovered what factors made his catalyst work, he established a specification that optimized those factors in the production of all subsequent materials. Nanoparticle characterization is the mechanism that he would have used to meet this quality control specification. Nanoparticle characterization is required to establish quality control over nanoparticle synthesis and to insure each separate nanoparticle meets performance specifications. The surface coating of nanoparticles is crucial to determining their properties. In particular, the surface coating can regulate stability and dictate reaction performance. For example, when NiO Nanoparticles are fabricated in their billions some are functional, some don’t work and some are great. This find granularity is not possible in the manufacturing of rods or plates that have be the standard in cold fusion material formats. When Rossi moved his product to a nano-technology format, he gained the advantage of being able to impose a rigid quality discipline. Fully automated nanoparticle characterization is the process that looks at the size shape and surface characteristics of each individual NiO Nanoparticle to determine if that particle is optimized for catalytic operation. In this process, each nanoparticle is individually tested for activity, and if acceptable is then selected. All below grade material is rejected and recycled back for refabrication where it restarts at the beginning of the processing cycle. This precise control of quality of the Rossi catalyst is what makes the Cat-E stand out above its competition.
