Patent ID: 8075958

Claim:
A method for providing a hydrogen separation membrane upon a porous metallic substrate, comprising; providing the substrate having a surface; subjecting said surface to at least one surface treatment comprising a polishing step whereby the surface is smoothed and whereby bulk properties of the substrate remain unchanged; and forming said hydrogen separation membrane upon said surface of the substrate by performing a plurality of deposition cycles, each deposition cycle comprising disposing upon said surface a composition, forming a coating on said surface of the substrate by a laser direct-write process utilizing said composition, subjecting the coating to soft baking, and subjecting the coating to sintering; wherein said hydrogen separation membrane provides permeance of hydrogen therethrough; wherein said composition is a metallic ink having a metallic component and a carrier component, said metallic component comprising at least at least one of palladium, a palladium alloy, and a palladium and silver alloy; wherein the soft baking substantially removes the carrier component from the coating; and wherein the sintering substantially densifies and mends the metallic component of the coating to provide substantially complete coverage of the surface without substantial openings or defects in the coating.