Material costs, reducing optimizing structure

Even though the above work is providing a stable, non-sintering, creep-resistant anode, electrodes made with Ni are relatively high in cost. Work is in progress to determine whether a cheaper material, particularly Cu, can be substituted for Ni to lower the cost while retaining stability. A complete substitution of Cu for Ni is not feasible because Cu would exhibit more creep than Ni. It has been found that anodes made of a Cu - 50% Ni - 5% A1 alloy will provide long-term creep resistance (36). Another approach tested at IGT showed that an "IGT" stabilized Cu anode had a lower percent creep than a 10% Cr - Ni anode. Its performance was about 40 to 50 mV lower than the standard cell at 160 mA/cm. An analysis hypothesized that the polarization difference could be reduced to 32 mV at most by pore structure optimization (37). 

There also are numerous advantages chlorofluorocarbons offer structural plastic designers and molders. As the transportation and construction industries become more energy-minded, more of those structural components are being shifted to plastic from metal. The optimal material of construction frequently is cellular plastics. Reduced weight and lower costs of most cellular plastic parts are possible without sacrificing the necessary strength and other attributes. 

Thousands of compounds have to be synthesized and screened to find the best candidate. The discovery of new lead structures and their further optimization involves high risks and costs. Because of the enormously high follow up cost for toxicological studies, development and registration, wrong decisions have to be avoided. Therefore new techniques are required which can help to reduce the time, cost or risk involved in R D. The introduction of new methods to accelerate the development was driven by R D in life sciences. In the meantime, similar methods have come in use in the research for material protection as well as the research for new materials, polymers and catalysts. 

---