US Patent 7743835 - Nanoparticle-enhanced shape-conforming materials

http://www.freepatentsonline.com/7743835.html

This patent from Baker Hughes Inc. deals with shape memory compositions used to fill annular spaces or seals and which use nanostructured particles to assist in heating the composition. Claim 1 reads:

1. An apparatus, comprising:

a composition that contains:

a shape-conforming material having a shape memory property; and

nanoparticles in an amount sufficient to heat the shape-conforming material to near or above a glass transition temperature of the shape-conforming material when the nanoparticles are exposed to a selected form of energy,

wherein the composition obtains a selected shape when compressed at near or above the glass transition temperature of the shape-conforming material.