I am sure that there may be a Ni-X alloy that melts at higher temperature than pure Ni. The field is wide open. There is just not enough good concrete data or a theory to say what works and what doesn't. It appears that Rossi has something that works, but this Lugano report provides, once again, only obscure clues. The new hotCat powder could just as easily be a catalyzed zirconium because we just don't know what is needed to make it work. The directly measured input powder suggests that Li may play a role. Looking back at the ICP-MS analysis of the ash from Rossi's original recipe that Sven Kullander had done only recently came to my attention. There was Li in this ash. So Li may well play a role all the way back to Rossi's lower temperature recipe. In this case the Li would not be vapor - it is part of an alloy with the carbonyl Ni particles which either occurred during the reaction or in the prepared powder. I think a Li-Ni alloy on the surface of the carbonyl Ni powder could be a part of the fuel and I am looking for ways to dope the surface of my carbonyl Ni powder with Li in ways that will not mess up the high surface area of the carbonyl particles.
I think as a community we should reproduce Rossi's earlier work before heading off on the hotCat trail. Rossi only made the hotCat after having long Edisonian experience with the lower temperature reaction. It is incredibly valuable to have a working formula as a starting point to be able to apply variations to the experiment and see the effects of the changes. Bob Higgins On Sat, Oct 18, 2014 at 1:37 PM, Bob Cook <[email protected]> wrote: > Bob-- > > > Thanks for that clarification about the melting of small Ni particles. > Are there any compounds or alloys of Ni that would not melt or sinter below > say 1100 C? Since Rossi says he does not use Ni nano particles the fuel > may be something else containing Ni that could be exposed to the Li at 1000 > C in some reliable configuration. > > For example the following abstract suggests some possible substrates that > would hold the Ni at temperature. > > Composite nano particles of Ni-TiC and Ni-TiN were prepared by an active > plasma-metal reaction method. The structure and morphology were evaluated > by X-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy observations. The > morphology of the composite particles is dice-like or dumbbell-like, where > the outer sides are metallic and the inner part of the rod (or dice)-like > structure is TiC or TiN. The formation mechanism of the composite particles > is considered by analogy to the VSL mechanism. *The thermal stability of > the nanocomposite particles is vastly superior to that of the metal > particle.* The excellent catalytic property of the Ni-TiN composite > particle was confirmed when compared to the well-known Raney Ni particle > and mixed particles of Ni and TiC. > > Note the increased thermal stability. > > Bob > >
