method of atomic transformation   

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to atomic transformation reactions, in particular to the synthesis of magnesium, calcium, aluminum, silicon, iron, nickel, chromium, manganese, copper, silver, gold, palladium, zirconium, tungsten and others. Currently, the conversion of elements into each other is performed in nuclear reactors or utilizing other sources of nuclear radiation. These methods are unsuitable for the low-cost mass production of elements and produce many undesirable radioisotopes. The present invention aims to provide a method allowing low-energy atomic transformations under conditions akin to chemical catalysis.

SUMMARY

Previously, we have introduced a new model of the atom that predicted that atomic transformations (transmutation) could be carried out under conditions akin to chemical catalysis. This invention provides a proof of this model, using liquid and solid phase catalysts in a two-step process. We have found that the high ionic activity of concentrated sodium hydroxide solution in combination with heating is sufficient to induce atomic transformation and generate a solid phase catalyst of high aluminum and silicon content. This catalyst when heated at a temperature of 1000° C. yields a variety of elements, including magnesium, calcium, iron, nickel, chromium, manganese, palladium, gold, silver, tungsten and copper. Thus, atomic transformation has been demonstrated using common chemicals and simple laboratory procedures.

Accordingly, one aspect of the present invention is a method of elemental transformation comprising:

(1) providing a liquid phase catalyst utilizing high ionic/electric energy;

(2) heating the liquid phase catalyst;

(3) neutralizing the liquid phase catalyst to prepare a solid phase catalyst;

(4) performing solid phase catalysis by heating the solid phase catalyst at high temperature; and

(5) heating the solid phase catalyst with an element or its compound to achieve elemental transformation.

Another aspect of the present invention is a method of use of a product produced by the method described above in a biological system.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The following invention will become better understood with reference to the specification, appended claims, and accompanying drawings, where:

FIG. 1 is a graph showing the time-course of the white precipitate formation in the first reaction step.

FIG. 2 is a graph showing the Scanning Electron Microscopy-Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy (SEM-EDS) analysis of the white precipitate.

FIG. 3 is a graph showing the SEM image of the white precipitate.

FIG. 4 is a graph showing the SEM image of the heated white precipitate.

FIG. 5 is a graph showing the SEM image of crystal 1.

FIG. 6 is a graph showing the SEM image of crystal 2.

FIG. 7 is a graph showing the SEM image of crystal 3.

FIG. 8 is a graph showing the matrix composition of the heated white precipitate.

FIG. 9 is a graph showing the SEM-EDS analysis of crystal 1.

FIG. 10 is a graph showing the SEM-EDS analysis of two areas in FIG. 4.

FIG. 11 is a graph showing the SEM-EDS analysis of crystal 2.

FIG. 12 is a graph showing the SEM-EDS analysis of crystal 3.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Over the past two decades, numerous research reports have emerged on low energy nuclear reactions, e.g., the formation of tritium from deuterium on Pd (1), the formation of Fe in gold electrodes, or the formation of helium and cadmium in a Pd electrode (2), as well as the formation of other elements (3). These data were largely viewed with skepticism as low energy nuclear reactions are not explainable within our current understanding of atomic processes.

We recently introduced a new theory of the atom that provides a theoretical framework for the design of low energy nuclear reactions (4, 5). The theory proposes that atoms are complex electromagnetic waveforms that are circulators of the space lattice, the carrier medium for electromagnetic interactions. We suggested that only electromagnetic energy exists, and therefore electromagnetic pressure waves of sufficient intensity should induce atomic transformation. In addition, the atom should be viewed as a whole, irrespective of whether chemical or nuclear reactions are concerned. For this reason, we introduce here the term low energy atomic transformation to replace the currently used term “nuclear reaction” to describe the synthesis of elements under conditions akin to chemical catalysis.

We hypothesized that sufficient electric pressure could be generated by utilizing high ionic activities of molecules, a method commonly used in chemical catalysis. We reasoned that a single catalytic step may be enough to produce elements of lower atomic masses, and such a procedure is demonstrated in this invention. The synthesis of elements of higher atomic masses requires an additional catalytic step.

Accordingly, one aspect of the present invention is a method of elemental transformation comprising:

(1) providing a liquid phase catalyst utilizing high ionic/electric energy;

(2) heating the liquid phase catalyst;

(3) neutralizing the liquid phase catalyst to prepare a solid phase catalyst;

(4) performing solid phase catalysis by heating the solid phase catalyst at high temperature; and

(5) heating the solid phase catalyst with an element or its compound to achieve elemental transformation.

In one alternative, electric pressure is generated in order to facilitate elemental transformation. In another alternative, heating and electric pressure are used in combination.

The liquid phase catalyst can be a base or an acid.

Typically, the reaction temperature of the liquid phase catalytic step is between about 80° C. and about 250° C. Typically, the reaction time for the liquid phase catalytic step is from about 5 hours to about 24 hours. Typically, the heating temperature of the liquid phase catalyst is between about 100° C. and about 120° C.

The neutralization step can yield a solid phase catalyst in the form of a white precipitate. The white precipitate can contain sodium, aluminum, silicon, and oxygen as main constituents. The white precipitate catalyst can be heated at a temperature range of from about 800° C. to about 1700° C., optionally with an element.

New elements can be generated by the method; for example, the new elements can include at least one element selected from the group consisting of magnesium, aluminum, calcium, palladium, copper, gold, silver, zinc, tungsten, iron, manganese, nickel, zirconium and chromium.

The synthesized elements produced by the method can have an atomic mass higher than sodium.

Another aspect of the present invention is a method of use of a product produced by the method described above in a biological system. The biological organism can be a microorganism or a eukaryote, such as a higher plant or a human.

All chemicals were obtained from Sigma-Aldrich and were of ACS grade or equivalent. All containers coming in contact with reaction media were glass. The elemental transformation method described here involves a two-step reaction. In the first step, 4.5 liters of 3.7 M NaOH were gently refluxed for 5-24 h in a round-bottom glass reactor. After cooling to room temperature on a chilled water bath, the pH was adjusted slowly to slightly acidic (pH 4-5) with 1:1 HCl under gentle stirring. The solution became turbid; a white precipitate began to form early in the neutralization process. It is important to avoid significant warming up of the solution. The best approach is to perform the neutralization on a chilled water bath and keep the temperature at around 20° C.

From the slightly acidic pH, the mixture was re-adjusted to mildly alkaline by using 1M NaOH solution until pH 8 was reached. After stirring was stopped, the supernatant slowly cleared and a white precipitate settled out. After the precipitate settled overnight the supernatant was carefully aspirated off using a peristaltic pump. The precipitate was re-suspended in 8 L of deionized water and allowed to settle overnight again. The settled precipitate was transferred into 1-L centrifuge tubes with deionized water and spun at 3,500 rpm for 35 m in a Sorvall model RC3B centrifuge. The precipitate was washed 3 more times by resuspension in deionized water to remove residual salts, and spread out on a glass tray to air dry. Subsequently, it was heated at 70° C. for 7 hours to reach a constant weight and weighed. The granular, soft white material was ground to a fine powder in a porcelain mortar and stored in a plastic jar at room temperature. The second catalytic step involved heating the white precipitate to 1000° C. for 1 hr in a Sentrotech STT-1600 tube furnace in an air atmosphere. SEM-EDS analyses were performed using a Philips Quanta 600 instrument.

In a new theory of the atom and atomic processes (4, 5), we proposed that the atom is a complex electromagnetic waveform with constituents that form a balanced, coupled system. We also suggested that the atom should be treated as a whole, regardless of whether chemical or nuclear reactions are concerned. For this reason, we have introduced the term low energy atomic transformation as opposed to the currently used nuclear reaction to describe the synthesis of new elements under conditions similar to chemical catalysis. As the atom is formed out of the space lattice by electromagnetic pressure waves (4, 5), the atom may also be transformed (transmuted) by electromagnetic force alone.

A large body of evidence is now accumulating on low energy nuclear reactions demonstrating that electromagnetic effects may be sufficient to achieve atomic transformation (1-3). As chemical reactions are electric, we reasoned that the high ionic/electric activity of extreme pH could be sufficient to drive atomic transformation reactions. Heating the reaction mixture amplifies the electric activity of high pH and should thus increase reaction rates.

To study whether atomic transformation may occur in a heated NaOH solution, we first set up the reflux of a 3.7M NaOH solution for increasing times (FIG. 1). We also hypothesized that reaction product could become enriched in silicon, because this element resides at wave amplitude of the 5th octave in the spiral periodic table of elements [6] and so it is a potential end product of the transformation of sodium. Therefore, after neutralization with acid, the silicon-rich reaction product should precipitate out. In fact, we found a white precipitate forming early in the neutralization process. No precipitate forms before boiling takes place. For neutralization, we used both acetic and hydrochloric acids and found that HCl neutralization yields a more robust precipitate. Despite this, settling of the precipitate takes a long time and even with centrifugation a small loss of fines occurred. The precipitate was subsequently dried at 70° C. and weighed.

We also noticed a minor breakdown of the glass material of the reaction vessel, and an average mass loss of 2 g of the reaction flask over a 24 h refluxing. This is only 1/10th of the amount of precipitate obtained during the reaction. In the 5 h reactions, an average weight loss was observed of 0.9 g of the reaction vessel. The average yield of the white precipitate in three reactions was 20.1 g. The amount of precipitate generated in the reaction mixture increased nearly linearly with the boiling time indicating that the reaction potential was not exhausted over 24 h of boiling (FIG. 1).

The elemental composition of the white precipitate differs substantially from that of the starting neutralized NaOH as well as the glass material of the reaction vessel. In Table 1, the compositions of the starting neutralized NaOH, the white precipitate and the reactor glass material were compared by ICP-MS. Analysis of the white precipitate by SEM-EDS (FIG. 2) and ICP-MS (Table 1) demonstrated a high concentration of silicon that was not present in the starting reagents. In fact, the silicon concentration in the HCl neutralized NaOH solution at zero time was merely 1.5 ppm, consistent with ACS grade chemicals. The concentrations of magnesium, aluminum, and calcium were also greatly increased compared with the starting reagents. As 666 g of NaOH yielded 20.1 g of precipitate, a conversion factor of 33.13 can be used to estimate the relative concentration changes of elements.

The data demonstrate that Mg, Ca, Al and Si appeared (likely in the form of a mixed sodium silicate compound) as the main new constituents during boiling of NaOH. The reactor glass contributes just 8% of the silicon content of the white precipitate. The consumption of Na during reflux was also evident. In addition, the concentration of a number of other elements increased to varying degrees in the white precipitate relative to time zero. Among these, the greatest increases were shown by Cu, Fe, Ti, Mn, Zn and Zr. The concentrations of Al, C, Na, and Si in the samples were confirmed by X-ray fluorescence.

This observation can be interpreted by our new theory of the atom (4, 5) as well as the theory of spiral periodic table of elements introduced by Russell (6, 7). He suggested that all elements are aggregates of light units progressing through their evolutionary cycle of disappearance and reappearance. In other words, all elements follow a similar life cycle and therefore “stable” elements do not exist. According to Russell, all elements of matter are positioned along a nine-octave sine wave cycle of motion. Each octave has 7 tones (elements) plus a “supertone” noble gas that records all information of elements of its octave. Atoms can be considered merely as various states of motion of one cosmic substance, and are locked into their energetically permitted positions on their octave waves.

TABLE 1 Elemental Compositions of the Zero-Time Neutralized NaOH, the White Precipitate and the Reactor Glass Neutralized NaOH White precipitate Reactor glass material ppm ppm ppm ppm ppm ppm C 4,200 Al 0.63 Mo 0.005 Al 20,000 Mo 0.12 Al 14,200 Mo 6.7 Sb ND Nd ND Sb 0.49 Nd 0.43 Sb 0.44 Nd 0.52 As ND Ni 0.1 As ND Ni 250 As 0.43 Ni 1.4 Ba 0.18 Nb ND Ba 3.8 Nb ND Ba 7.9 Nb 0.29 Be ND Os ND Be 0.15 Os ND Be 0.13 Os ND Bi ND Pd ND Bi ND Pd 0.15 Bi ND Pd 0.22 B 1.3 P ND B 590 P 10

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