Patent ID: 7393392

Claim:
A hydrogen-permeable membrane which comprises a ceramic material composed of a nitride of aluminum (Al) and/or silicon (Si), an oxide of aluminum (Al) and/or silicon (Si), an oxide of aluminum (Al) and/or silicon (Si), or a silicide of a rare earth element, and particles of a least one kind of hydrogen-permeable metal selected from the group consisting of palladium (Pd), niobium (Nb), vanadium (V), tantalum (Ta) and an alloy thereof, dispersed in the ceramic material, wherein a proportion of the hydrogen-permeable metal particles in the hydrogen-permeable membrane is 30 to 70% by mass and a thickness of the membrane is 5 to 1,000 nm, and wherein the diameter of the particles is between 1 and 10 nm.