US Patent 7712512 - Manufacturing metal/nanocarbon composite

http://www.freepatentsonline.com/7712512.html

Carbon nanostructures have the potential to improve the strength and thermal properties of metal alloys but can be difficult to evenly distribute within a metal matrix. This patent from Nissei Plastic Industrial Co. teaches a method to improve the dispersibility of nanocarbon with metal. Claim 1 reads:

1. A method for manufacturing a composite metal material combined with a nanocarbon material, the method comprising the steps of:

heating a metal alloy to a half-melted state in which both liquid and solid phases are present; and

adding a nongraphitized nanocarbon material to the half-melted metal alloy and stirring to obtain a composite metal material combined with a nanocarbon.