METHOD OF MANUFACTURING A SPONGY NICKEL CATALYST AND SPONGY NICKEL CATALYST MADE THEREBY

1 . A method of making a nickel alloy comprising:

providing nickel alloy components in powdered form and in a selected ratio;

melting the nickel alloy components using an electron beam, using selected parameters, to generate a spongy metal catalyst precursor alloy material.

2 . A method according to claim 1 , wherein the selected parameters include one or more parameters selected from the group consisting of: beam current, acceleration voltage, beam frequency, focus point, spot velocity and beam pattern.

3 . A method as in claim 2 , wherein the parameters are varied to alter a characteristic of the nickel alloy material.

4 . A method as in claim 3 , wherein the frequency of the electron beam is selected to improve uniformity of the alloy.

5 . A method as in claim 3 , wherein the electron beam current is selected to improve uniformity of the alloy.

6 . A method as in claim 1 , wherein the alloy components comprise nickel and aluminum.

7 . A method as in claim 6 , wherein the alloy components further comprise iron and/or chromium as dopants.

8 . A method as in claim 1 , further comprising further melting using an electron beam to increase a homogeneity of the precursor alloy material.

9 . A method as in claim 8 , wherein the further melting uses different selected parameters from the selected parameters of the melting.

10 . A method of manufacturing a nickel catalyst comprising processing the precursor alloy material of claim 1 to produce a nickel catalyst.

11 . A method as in claim 10 , wherein the processing comprises activating the precursor alloy material by treating it in an alkaline solution to form a porous nickel structure.

12 . An anode made by the process of claim 1 .

13 . A fuel cell comprising an anode made by the process of claim 1 .

14 . A method of manufacturing an electrode comprising:

combining powdered alloy components in a crucible;

melting the combined powders using an electron beam to produce an alloy material;

milling the alloy material to produce an alloy powder;

processing the alloy powder with a basic solution to produce a pyrophoric nickel sponge;

performing surface passivation of the pyrophoric nickel sponge;

forming the nickel sponge into an electrode; and

reactivating the nickel sponge.

15 . A method of making an alloy comprising:

providing metallic alloy components in powdered form and in a selected ratio;

melting the metallic alloy components using an electron beam, using selected parameters, to generate a spongy metal catalyst precursor alloy material.

16 . A method as in claim 15 , wherein the alloy comprises one or more metals from the group consisting of: Ni, Al, Fe, Co, Ti, and Mo.

17 . A precursor alloy material manufactured by a method comprising:

combining powdered alloy components in a crucible;

melting the combined powders using an electron beam to produce an alloy material;

milling the alloy material to produce an alloy powder;