GINER INC — Department of Defense SBIR Phase I: N201-068

Description

Carbon monoxide (CO) is an extremely dangerous gaseous poison that interferes with the oxygenation of blood and the delivery of oxygen to tissues because of its significantly higher affinity for hemoglobin than oxygen. It has no smell, which makes it difficult for humans to detect. The primary sources of CO on submarines are tobacco smoking, diesel generators, and high-temperature paints. A submarine’s central oxidation system removes most air contaminants but can fail to remove localized CO from isolated or poorly ventilated spaces, where CO can accumulate to hazardous levels. Giner Inc. will therefore demonstrate a novel highly active and highly durable Gold nanoparticle catalyst that operates at ambient temperature and humidity for incorporation into a compact, lightweight portable CO removal system. The proposed system uses an encapsulated nano-gold room temperature CO oxidation catalyst that is stable in the presence of moisture and other contaminants, allowing it to maintain a 90 % removal rate for 10,000 hours. The catalyst uses highly active 2 nm gold nanoparticles supported on a CeO2–TiO2 nanorod substrate. Excellent catalyst durability is provided by melamine modification to create a permeable, stable CeO2–TiO2 overlayer that encapsulates the gold nanoparticles preventing nanoparticle sintering.