Thermally stable sintered porous metal articles

Claim 1

A method of producing a porous sintered metal anode which is both electrically conductive and essentially physically thermally stable in that the porosity of said anode does not significantly change when subsequently exposed to a temperature approaching the original sintering temperature of said sintered metal anode which method comprises the steps of: preparing a mixture of base metal particles consisting essentially of from about 70 to about 95 weight percent of a metal selected from the group consisting of nickel, cobalt, iron and mixtures thereof with said particles having a particle size ranging from about 0.1 microns to about 200 microns and from about 5 to about 30 weight percent of conductive dispersoid particles consisting essentially of a metal selected from the group consisting of chromium, tungsten, molybdenum and mixtures thereof with said particles having a particle size ranging from about 0.01 microns to about 50 microns; forming said mixture into an anode of the desired shape; heating said formed anode to a sintering temperature which is at least about 75% of the melting point of said base metal particles, said melting point being in degrees Fahrenheit, to form a sintered anode; compacting said sintered anode to a degree sufficient to cause it to have a porosity ranging from about 55 to 85 percent; and subjecting said so-compacted anode to a temperature sufficient to anneal the same.

Claim 2

A method of producing a porous sintered metal anode which is both electrically conductive and essentially physically thermally stable in that the porosity of said anode does not significantly change when subsequently exposed to a temperature approaching the original sintering temperature of said sintered metal anode which method comprises the steps of: preparing a mixture of base metal particles consisting essentially of from about 70 to about 95 weight percent of a metal selected from the group consisting of nickel, cobalt, iron and mixtures thereof with said particles having a particle size ranging from about 0.1 microns to about 200 microns and from about 5 to about 30 weight percent of conductive dispersoid particles consisting essentially of a metal selected from the group consisting of chromium, tungsten, molybdenum and mixtures thereof with said particles having a particle size ranging from about 0.01 microns to about 50 microns; forming said mixture into an anode of the desired shape; heating said formed anode to a sintering temperature which is at least about 75% of the melting point of said base metal particles, said melting point being in degrees Fahrenheit, to form a sintered anode; compacting said sintered anode to a degree sufficient to cause it to have a porosity ranging from about 55 to 85 percent; and subjecting said so-compacted anode to a temperature sufficient to anneal the same.