Patent ID: 8092558

Claim:
A process for forming a reactor module catalytic surface having a plurality of microchannels and a thermocouple, comprising: (a) providing a base material; (b) layering a coating of polyimide that covers the reaction module catalytic surface; (c) laser ablating a plurality of microchannels to remove the coating of polyimide from only the microchannel areas; (d) sputtering a conductive metal to coat all surfaces and form a thermocouple having a continuous catalytic surface, or forming a catalytic surface on the polyimide catalytic surface to form a discontinuous catalytic surface; and (e) repeating steps (b), (c) and (d) a plurality of times, whereby each routine of steps (b), (c) and (d) adds about 20 μm of thickness to the walls of the microchannels.