Patents by Inventor Steve T. Connor

Steve T. Connor has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Patent number: 9254505
    Abstract: A variety of methods, devices, systems and arrangements are implemented involving nanowire meshes. One such method is implemented to include synthesizing metal nanowires in a solution containing a structure-directing agent. The metal nanowires are deposited on a substrate to form a sheet of nanowires. The deposited metal nanowires are heated to a temperature less than about 200 degrees Celsius and for a period of time of about 10 minutes to 60 minutes, thereby removing the structure-directing agent and modifying the electrical conductivity and optical transmittance of the sheet of nanowires.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 30, 2012
    Date of Patent: February 9, 2016
    Assignee: The Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior University
    Inventors: Steve T. Connor, Jung-Yong Lee, Yi Cui, Peter Peumans
  • Patent number: 8323744
    Abstract: A variety of methods, devices, systems and arrangements are implemented involving nanowire meshes. One such method is implemented to include synthesizing metal nanowires in a solution containing a structure-directing agent. The metal nanowires are deposited on a substrate to form a sheet of nanowires. The deposited metal nanowires are heated to a temperature less than about 200 degrees Celsius and for a period of time of about 10 minutes to 60 minutes, thereby removing the structure-directing agent and modifying the electrical conductivity and optical transmittance of the sheet of nanowires.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 9, 2009
    Date of Patent: December 4, 2012
    Assignee: The Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior University
    Inventors: Steve T. Connor, Jung-Yong Lee, Yi Cui, Peter Peumans
  • Publication number: 20100200537
    Abstract: The current invention provides a method of fabricating nano-pore structured dense Pt electrodes using particle masking and LB deposition methods. The pore size and TPB density are easily tunable by changing initial size of the masking silica particles and the spacing between them. Compared to the solid oxide fuel cell MEAs with porous Pt electrode deposited by conventional DC sputtering method, fuel cell MEAs with the nano structured electrodes fabricated according to the current invention showed thermal and microstructural stability and superior I-V performance at 400˜450° C. Also, EIS spectra showed significant improvement in the oxygen reduction kinetics by increasing the density of charge transfer sites at the TPB. A nearly linear scaling relationship between TPB density and fuel cell performance was also demonstrated.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 17, 2009
    Publication date: August 12, 2010
    Inventors: Young Beom Kim, Yi Cui, Ching-Mei Hsu, Steve T. Connor, Friedrich B. Prinz
  • Publication number: 20100178417
    Abstract: A variety of methods, devices, systems and arrangements are implemented involving nanowire meshes. One such method is implemented to include synthesizing metal nanowires in a solution containing a structure-directing agent. The metal nanowires are deposited on a substrate to form a sheet of nanowires. The deposited metal nanowires are heated to a temperature less than about 200 degrees Celsius and for a period of time of about 10 minutes to 60 minutes, thereby removing the structure-directing agent and modifying the electrical conductivity and optical transmittance of the sheet of nanowires.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 9, 2009
    Publication date: July 15, 2010
    Inventors: Steve T. Connor, Jung-Yong Lee, Yi Cui, Peter Peumans