Ultra-efficient 3D printed catalysts could help solve the challenge of overheating in hypersonic aircraft and offer a revolutionary solution to thermal management across countless industries.

Developed by researchers at RMIT, the highly versatile catalysts are cost-effective to make and simple to scale.

The team’s lab demonstrations show the 3D printed catalysts could potentially be used to power hypersonic flight while simultaneously cooling the system.

“Powerful and efficient, they offer an exciting potential solution for thermal management in aviation - and beyond.

“With further development, we hope this new generation of ultra-efficient 3D printed catalysts could be used to transform any industrial process where overheating is an ever-present challenge.”

Figure1. A range of experimental designs for the 3D printed catalysts.

Miniature chemical reactors:

When the 3D printed structures heat up, some of the metal moves into the zeolite framework — a process crucial to the unprecedented efficiency of the new catalysts. “Our 3D printed catalysts are like miniature chemical reactors and what makes them so incredibly effective is that mix of metal and synthetic minerals,” Hubesch said.

It’s an exciting new direction for catalysis, but we need more research to fully understand this process and identify the best combination of metal alloys for the greatest impact.”

The next steps for the research team from RMIT’s Centre for Advanced Materials and Industrial Chemistry (CAMIC) include optimizing the 3D printed catalysts by studying them with X-ray synchrotron techniques and other in-depth analysis methods.

This third generation of catalysis can be linked with 3D printing to create new complex designs that were previously not possible,” Bhargava said.

“Our new 3D printed catalysts represent a radical new approach that has real potential to revolutionise the future of catalysis around the world.”

The 3D printed catalysts were produced using Laser Powder Bed Fusion (L-PBF) technology in the Digital Manufacturing Facility, part of RMIT’s Advanced Manufacturing Precinct.

Bhargava and Distinguished Professor Milan Brandt, director of the Digital Manufacturing Facility, conceptualized the idea of 3D printed catalysts and chemical reactor design.

Speed:

Only a few experimental planes have reached hypersonic speed (defined as above Mach 5 — over 3,800 mph (6,100km/h) or 1 mile (1.7km) per second).

In theory, a hypersonic aircraft could travel from London to New York in less than 90 minutes but many challenges remain in the development of hypersonic air travel, such as the extreme heat levels.

The researchers replicated at lab scale the extreme temperatures and pressures experienced by the fuel at hypersonic speeds, to test the functionality of their design.

References:

1. https://www.rmit.edu.au/news/media-releases-and-expert-comments/2021/sep/3d-printed-catalysts-hypersonic
2. https://scivtech.com/technology/next-gen-3d-printed-catalysts-to-propel-hypersonic-flight-speeds-over-3800-mph/
3. https://scitechdaily.com/next-gen-3d-printed-catalysts-to-propel-hypersonic-flight-speeds-over-3800-mph/
4. https://phys.org/news/2021-09-next-gen-3d-catalysts-propel-hypersonic.html

Cite this article:

Sri Vasagi K (2022), Next Gen 3D Printed Catalysts To Propel Hypersonic Flight, Anatechmaz, pp. 154