Method of coating substrates with solvated clusters of metal particles

Claim 1

The method of forming a continuous metal coating on a substrate, comprising the steps of: (a) preparing a stable colloidal dispersion of solvated clusters of metal atoms in a polar organic solvent by capturing and complexing vaporized metal in said solvent as a frozen matrix and gradually warming said solvent to room temperature without precipitating the captured metal atoms, said metal being selected from the metals having atomic numbers 21 to 32, 39 to 50, and 71 to 82; (b) contacting the substrate to be coated with said stable dispersion while evaporating said solvent therefrom, said solvent evaporation causing said dispersion to become unstable with progressive precipitation of solvated metal clusters as the evaporation proceeds, the precipitated solvated metal clusters depositing on said substrate; and (c) continuing said contacting and solvent evaporating until a continuous layer of the solvated metal clusters is formed on the substrate, the continuity of said layer being indicated by its electrical conductivity.

Claim 2

The method of forming a continuous metal coating on a substrate, comprising the steps of: (a) preparing a stable colloidal dispersion of solvated clusters of metal atoms in a polar organic solvent by capturing and complexing vaporized metal in said solvent as a frozen matrix and gradually warming said solvent to room temperature without precipitating the captured metal atoms, said metal being selected from the metals having atomic numbers 21 to 32, 39 to 50, and 71 to 82; (b) contacting the substrate to be coated with said stable dispersion while evaporating said solvent therefrom, said solvent evaporation causing said dispersion to become unstable with progressive precipitation of solvated metal clusters as the evaporation proceeds, the precipitated solvated metal clusters depositing on said substrate; and (c) continuing said contacting and solvent evaporating until a continuous layer of the solvated metal clusters is formed on the substrate, the continuity of said layer being indicated by its electrical conductivity.

Claim 10

The method of forming a continuous metal coating on a substrate, comprising the steps of: (a) preparing a stable colloidal dispersion of solvated clusters of metal atoms in a polar organic solvent by capturing and complexing vaporized metal in said solvent as a frozen matrix and gradually warming said solvent to room temperature without precipitating the captured metal atoms, said metal being selected from the group of metals consisting of iron, palladium, copper, zinc, lead, silver, cadmium, indium, germanium, tin, platinum, gold, and mixtures thereof, said organic solvent having a dielectric constant of 10 to 55; (b) contacting the substrate to be coated with said stable dispersion while evaporating said solvent therefrom, said solvent evaporation causing said dispersion to become unstable with progressive precipitation of solvated metal clusters as the evaporation proceeds, the precipitated solvated metal clusters depositing on said substrate; and (c) continuing said contacting and solvent evaporating until a continuous layer of the solvated metal clusters is formed on the substrate, the continuity of said layer being indicated by its electrical conductivity.

Claim 11

The method of forming a continuous metal coating on a substrate, comprising the steps of: (a) preparing a stable colloidal dispersion of solvated clusters of metal atoms in a polar organic solvent by capturing and complexing vaporized metal in said solvent as a frozen matrix and gradually warming said solvent to room temperature without precipitating the captured metal atoms, said metal being selected from the group of metals consisting of iron, palladium, copper, zinc, lead, silver, cadmium, indium, germanium, tin, platinum, gold, and mixtures thereof, said organic solvent having a dielectric constant of 10 to 55; (b) contacting the substrate to be coated with said stable dispersion while evaporating said solvent therefrom, said solvent evaporation causing said dispersion to become unstable with progressive precipitation of solvated metal clusters as the evaporation proceeds, the precipitated solvated metal clusters depositing on said substrate; and (c) continuing said contacting and solvent evaporating until a continuous layer of the solvated metal clusters is formed on the substrate, the continuity of said layer being indicated by its electrical conductivity.

Claim 13

The method of claims 9 or 10 in which said dispersion is essentially free of contaminants, being composed only of the metal and the organic solvent, and the deposited layer is thereby correspondingly free of contaminants.

Claim 14

The method of claims 9 or 10 in which said dispersion has a metal concentration of at least 0.02 molar.