Mick O'Meara

ABSTRACT:

Metal Organic Chemical Vapour Deposition (MOCVD) process is used for the production of computer circuit boards and metal shapes in nickel, gold, copper, cobalt, etc. All varieties of the MOCVD process use decomposition of a vapour of organometallic compounds to produce different forms of pure metals, or metal alloys. CVD Manufacturing's proprietary MOCVD process has been adapted and developed to produce ultra-pure metal shapes, metal powders or metal foams. The typical process, for re-cycling and purification of contaminated metals, consists of three steps. The first step is the production of a volatile metal organic compound from metals, metal oxides, etc., which are volumetrically contaminated. The typical feed material is a metal powder, ore, concentrate, or a slurry of metals and contaminants. The second step is the purification of the volatile metal organic compound by fractional distillation. The final step is the decomposition of purified metal organic compound into different forms of ultra-pure metal such as net shapes, metal powders or metal foams. A mixture of metals can be purified by the selective production of volatile materials. Alternatively, a separation can be achieved during the second step, in the fractional distillation stage to separate the metals.