Patent ID: 7766983

Claim:
A corrosion inhibitor composition for a fuel, comprising: a plurality of nanoparticles formed of an inorganic active composition having an average longest dimension of about 1 nanometer to about 100 nanometers and comprising a metal boride, a metal oxycarbide, a metal silicide, or a combination comprising at least one of the foregoing; a at least one capping ligand bound to at least one nanoparticle; a fuel, wherein the inorganic composition is present in the fuel at a concentration of about 1 part per million to about 5000 parts per million; and wherein the inorganic active composition is insoluble in the fuel and will react with a corrosion causing contaminant in the fuel to produce a non-corrosive species with a melting temperature greater than that of the corrosion causing contaminant.