US Patent 8066831 - Power generation using nanoenergetic material

http://www.freepatentsonline.com/8066831.html

Explosive materials are conventionally not thought to be useful for producing electrical power due to the byproduct of uncontrolled thermal and mechanical forces. This patent from the University of Missouri teaches how nanomaterials might change this perception by producing smaller, controllable explosive reactions during power generation. Claim 1 reads:

1. A method of generating power comprising:

igniting nanoenergetic material that is on a substrate, the nanoenergetic material comprising a mixture of oxidizer and fuel nanostructures;

receiving, with a transducer, energy from a shockwave generated by combustion of the nanoenergetic; and

using the transducer to convert the energy from the shockwave into electrical energy.