TECHNOLOGY LICENSING OPPORTUNITY: SonicCoat

Scope

Non-Invasive Ultrasonic Coating Evaluation for Electrochemical Systems Makers of fuel cells, electrolyzers and other electrochemical devices depend on catalyst coatings applied with tight consistency; yet, today’s inspection tools force production to pause so samples can be pulled and studied in a laboratory.

SonicCoat, developed by researchers at Los Alamos National Laboratory, offers a faster path: A gentle ultrasonic probe reads how much catalyst has been laid down while the coating line keeps running, giving producers real-time confidence in every layer without slowing throughput or harming the part.

The payoff is higher yield, more uniform device performance and lower material cost across a platform that reaches from clean-energy hardware to batteries, solar films and semiconductors.

How it Works The SonicCoat method rests on a simple physical fact: Sound travels through an object differently as the object’s makeup changes.

A small transducer sends acoustic waves through a coated part and listens for the natural tones, or resonances, that the material rings back.

As the catalyst is sprayed onto the surface layer by layer, those resonant tones shift in pitch and loudness in step with how much material has been added, so the acoustic signature becomes a fingerprint of coating thickness and uniformity.

Because the reading is taken by sound rather than by scraping, cutting or exposing the part to X-rays, the inspection happens in place and in seconds, and the part continues down the line unharmed.

Technology Description SonicCoat applies Acoustic Resonance Spectroscopy (ARS) to the quality control of catalyst-coated gas diffusion layers, the porous electrodes at the heart of fuel cells and electrolyzers.

A coated sample is held in fixturing fitted with transducers that excite...