Catalyst Nanocomposites via Induction Heating and Rapid Quenching

The patent replaces conventional thermal heating methods with flash Joule heating, which uses electrical current to generate heat directly within the material through resistive heating. This substitution enables ultra-rapid heating rates (10^3-10^6 K/s) that are impossible with traditional furnaces, producing non-equilibrium phases with superior electrocatalytic activity while maintaining process simplicity

The patent fundamentally changes the heating rate parameter from conventional slow heating (typically <10 K/s) to flash heating rates (10^3-10^6 K/s). This parameter change transforms the phase formation process from equilibrium to non-equilibrium conditions, creating metastable phases with enhanced electrocatalytic performance for water splitting reactions

The patent uses flash Joule heating to rapidly skip through the temperature range where phase segregation would occur during slow heating. The ultra-rapid heating rate (10^3-10^6 K/s) allows the system to reach high temperatures and form the desired spinel phase structure before diffusion processes can cause Fe and Ni phase segregation, thereby maintaining compositional stability and high electrocatalytic activity

The patent employs periodic pulsed electrical current for flash Joule heating, where short duration pulses (milliseconds to seconds) are applied to achieve rapid heating and quenching cycles. This periodic action allows precise control over the heating duration, preventing prolonged exposure at temperatures that would cause phase segregation while still achieving complete precursor conversion

The patent replaces expensive, scarce platinum-based catalysts with abundant, cost-effective transition metal-based nanocomposites (such as Fe-Ni spinel oxides and Ru nanocomposites). These alternative materials, while potentially less inherently active than Pt, provide sufficient catalytic activity for practical water splitting applications at a fraction of the cost and with abundant material availability, enabling scalable deployment

The patent develops composite nanomaterials combining carbon matrices with transition metal oxides, hydroxides, or metallic nanoparticles (Fe, Ni, Ru). These composite structures leverage the high surface area and conductivity of carbon combined with the catalytic activity of transition metals, achieving Pt-comparable HER and OER performance through synergistic effects while using abundant materials