Metal active component formation in hybrid materials

Abstract

A method for forming a metal active component in a hybrid material is provided. The method includes applying a metal precursor formulation on a substrate; and exposing the metal precursor formulation applied on the substrate to a low-energy plasma, wherein the low-energy plasma is operated according to a set of exposure parameters.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method for forming a metal active component, comprising:
 applying a metal precursor formulation on a substrate; and   exposing the metal precursor formulation applied on the substrate to a low-energy plasma, wherein the low-energy plasma is operated according to a first set of exposure parameters.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the substrate is any one of: an organic substrate and an inorganic substrate. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the low-energy plasma is a gas plasma. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 3 , wherein the gas plasma is any one of: Argon, Nitrogen, Oxygen, Hydrogen, and Air. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the set of exposure parameters includes at least one of: radio frequency (RF), power, gas flow rate, and exposure time. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 5 , wherein the RF frequency is between 50 Hertz (Hz) and 5 Giga Hertz (GHz), inclusive. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 5 , wherein the power is between 5 watts (W) and 600 W, inclusive. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 5 , wherein the gas flow rate is between 2 standard cubic centimeters per minute (SCCM) and 50 SCCM, inclusive. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 5 , wherein the exposure time is between 1 second and 30 minutes, inclusive. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein applying the metal precursor formulation is performed via at least any of: drop-casting, spin-coating, smearing, dip-coating, immersing and printing. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 5 , wherein exposing the metal precursor formulation applied on the substrate further comprises:
 placing the substrate in a low vacuum chamber for an amount of time equal to the exposure time.   
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 treating a surface of the substrate to create a pre-treated substrate, wherein the metal precursor formulation is applied on the pre-treated substrate.   
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the metal precursor formulation consists of an organic solvent and metal salts. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein the metal precursor formulation includes metal cations with at least one type of solvent. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 14 , wherein the metal cations are selected from the group consisting of: M(NO 3 ) n , M(SO 4 ) n , MCl n , and HmMCl n+m , and MN; wherein “M” is a metal atom with a valence of “n”, H is hydrogen, NO 3  is nitrate, SO 4  is sulfate, Cl is chloride, “N” is alkyl-, alyl-, aceto-, and other organic moiety, and “m” is a valence of the counter ion. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 14 , wherein the metal cations are inorganic cations selected from the group consisting of: gold, silver, platinum, palladium, copper, nickel, and a combination thereof. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 14 , wherein the metal precursor solution is any of a substance form of a solution, a dispersion, a suspension, a gel, and a colloid. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the substrate any one of: a membrane, a filter, a catalyst, a porous scaffold, a surface of various roughness. 
     
     
         19 . A metal active component, comprising:
 a metal precursor formulation; and   a substrate at least partially covered by the metal precursor formulation, wherein the metal precursor formulation is applied on the substrate, wherein the metal precursor formulation applied on the substrate is exposed to a low-energy plasma, wherein the low-energy plasma is operated according to a set of exposure parameters.   
     
     
         20 . The metal active component of  claim 19 , wherein the metal precursor formulation consists of an organic solvent and metal salts. 
     
     
         21 . The metal active component of  claim 20 , wherein the metal precursor formulation includes metal cations with at least one type of solvent. 
     
     
         22 . The metal active component of  claim 21 , wherein the metal cations are selected from the group consisting of: M(NO 3 ) n , M(SO 4 ) n , MCl n , and HmMCl n+m , and MN; wherein “M” is a metal atom with a valence of “n”, H is hydrogen, NO 3  is nitrate, SO 4  is sulfate, Cl is chloride, “N” is alkyl-, alyl-, aceto-, and other organic moieties, and “m” is a valence of the counter ion. 
     
     
         23 . The metal active component of  claim 21 , wherein the metal cations are inorganic cations selected from the group consisting of: gold, silver, platinum, palladium, copper, nickel, and a combination thereof. 
     
     
         24 . The metal active component of  claim 19 , wherein the metal precursor solution is any of a solution, a dispersion, a suspension, a gel, and a colloid. 
     
     
         25 . The metal active component of  claim 1 , wherein the substrate includes any one of: a membrane, a filter, a catalyst, a porous scaffold, a surface of various roughness.