US Patent 8137442 - Producing nanoporous layer of nanoparticles

http://www.freepatentsonline.com/8137442.html

This patent from France's Commissariat a l'Energie Atomique teaches a method to simplify manufacturing of relatively high thickness (>10 microns) nanoporous films for corrosion resistant coatings. Claim 1 reads:

1. A process for producing at least one nanoporous layer of nanoparticles selected from the group consisting of nanoparticles of a metal oxide, nanoparticles of metal oxides, and mixtures of said nanoparticles, on a surface of a substrate,

wherein at least one colloidal sol, in which said nanoparticles are dispersed and stabilized, is injected into a thermal plasma jet that sprays said nanoparticles onto said surface, wherein the nanoparticles have a size of 1 to 500 nm.