The use of newly discovered chemical reaction products, created when reactants combine to form products on the surface of a catalyst, to generate electricity, beams of radiation or mechanical motion. The invention also provides methods to convert the products into electricity or motion. The electric generator consists of a catalyst nanocluster, nanolayer or quantum well placed on a substrate consisting of a semiconductor diode, and a semiconductor diode on the surface of the substrate near the catalyst. The device to generate mechanical motion consists of a catalyst nanocluster, nanolayer or quantum well placed on a substrate, and a hydraulic fluid in contact with the non-reaction side of the substrate, with the surfaces of both the catalyst and substrate mechanically formed to enhance the unidirectional forces on the fluid. Both devices use a fuel-oxidizer mixture brought in contact with the catalyst. The apparatus converts a substantial fraction of the reaction product energy into useful work during the brief interval before such products equilibrate with their surroundings.

The use of newly discovered chemical reaction products, created when reactants combine to form products on the surface of a catalyst, to generate electricity, beams of radiation or mechanical motion. The invention also provides methods to convert the products into electricity or motion. The electric generator consists of a catalyst nanocluster, nanolayer or quantum well placed on a substrate consisting of a semiconductor diode, and a semiconductor diode on the surface of the substrate near the catalyst. The device to generate mechanical motion consists of a catalyst nanocluster, nanolayer or quantum well placed on a substrate, and a hydraulic fluid in contact with the non-reaction side of the substrate, with the surfaces of both the catalyst and substrate mechanically formed to enhance the unidirectional forces on the fluid. Both devices use a fuel-oxidizer mixture brought in contact with the catalyst. The apparatus converts a substantial fraction of the reaction product energy into useful work during the brief interval before such products equilibrate with their surroundings.

An energy converter reacts hydrocarbons and air on a catalyst configuration to produce a population inversion. A photovoltaic system may extract the radiating energy, and a laser system may extract a significant fraction of the reaction energy in the form of coherent radiation. The flooding of the catalyst adsorption sites with fuel and the choice of catalyst predisposes the adsorbing oxygen molecules to create mono-atomic oxygen hot-atoms, which deposit the considerable energy of oxygen adsorption directly into a reaction channel of adjacent, adsorbed and simple fuel radicals, thereby producing simple, energetic product molecules, concentrating the energy in one or a few modes, and strongly favoring inverted populations. A solid state method to stimulate precursor chemisorbed specie dissociation accelerates the reaction rates, providing a method to greatly intensify pulsed power output, increase efficiency, and to facilitate nano-scale and micro-scale thermal energy heat rejection processes.

An improved diode energy converter for chemical kinetic electron energy transfer is formed using nanostructures and includes identifiable regions associated with chemical reactions isolated chemically from other regions in the converter, a region associated with an area that forms energy barriers of the desired height, a region associated with tailoring the boundary between semiconductor material and metal materials so that the junction does not tear apart, and a region associated with removing heat from the semiconductor.

A device and method for stimulating pulsed chemical reactions in a small volume of gaseous reactants. An emitter stimulates the reactions of a fuel oxidizer mixture and a collector converts the vibrational energy of the resulting products into useful energy. The device may also include a reaction region, a collector, and reactants such as fuel and oxidizer. In one embodiment, air including exhausts is made to flow into and out of the reaction region, and fuel is made to flow into the reaction region. The device may be configured in several geometries, including but not limited to, a V-channel, a box and a plane.