Ryan J Hooper

US Patent:

20160237595, Aug 18, 2016

Filed:

Nov 3, 2015

Appl. No.:

14/931564

Inventors:

- Huntsville AL, US
Nicholas Webb - Madison AL, US
Ryan Hooper - Madison AL, US
James Allen - Huntsville AL, US

International Classification:

D01F 9/12
D01F 9/127

Abstract:

The disclosed materials, methods, and apparatus, provide novel ultra-high temperature materials (UHTM) in fibrous forms/structures; such “fibrous materials” can take various forms, such as individual filaments, short-shaped fiber, tows, ropes, wools, textiles, lattices, nano/microstructures, mesostructured materials, and sponge-like materials. At least four important classes of UHTM materials are disclosed in this invention: (1) carbon, doped-carbon and carbon alloy materials, (2) materials within the boron-carbon-nitride-X system, (3) materials within the silicon-carbon-nitride-X system, and (4) highly-refractory materials within the tantalum-hafnium-carbon-nitride-X and tantalum-hafnium-carbon-boron-nitride-X system. All of these material classes offer compounds/mixtures that melt or sublime at temperatures above 1800 C.—and in some cases are among the highest melting point materials known (exceeding 3000 C.). In many embodiments, the synthesis/fabrication is from gaseous, solid, semi-solid, liquid, critical, and supercritical precursor mixtures using one or more low molar mass precursor(s), in combination with one or more high molar mass precursor(s). Methods for controlling the growth, composition, and structures of UHTM materials through control of the thermal diffusion region are disclosed.