The patent, titled ‘Catalysts,’ US 7,651,875, was issued by the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) on January 26. It covers some of the many potential applications of the company’s Avto Metals technology, which enables the electrical properties of a metal to be altered as desired in nanoscale and thus can change the metal’s chemical or electrical properties and behavior.
The technology offers a new method for catalyzing a chemical reaction or for causing a biocatalyst reaction, for example, and thus for treating diseased humans or animals. It can be used to increase or reduce the biological activity of enzymes, antibodies, receptors and proteins, and as a mechanism for specific delivery of pharmaceuticals.
The Avto Metals technology can also be used as the basis for a carrier to deliver pesticides or herbicides to kill a pest of an animal or plant, or to attach biomolecules for delivery of chemicals or drugs.
Additionally, the Avto Metals technology also could increase the activity of a therapeutic agent through its association with the nano-structured surface of an Avto Metal, which also could cause an ineffective drug candidate to become effective.
The Avto technology also can be used as a sensor for many industrial or homeland security applications, by detecting small electrical changes caused by motion, or as a biosensor, to detect the presence of a particular material. It can be used to detect contamination in water, for example, or to detect the presence of dangerous biological or chemical elements. Such a device would be useful on commercial aircraft, for example, which are ideally suited for wide distribution of pathogens.
The technology can also enable improved catalytic analysis and activity, such as for catalytic converters in automobiles. Current automobiles use two different types of catalyst, a reduction catalyst and an oxidization catalyst; both could be replaced by a single catalyst based on the Avto Metals technology.