Patent ID: 8084085

Claim:
A method of manufacturing a microstructure useful for chemical processing and manufacture, the method comprising: coating a microchannel with a slurry including a sol-gel binder, the microchannel defined by a plurality of microchannel walls and configured to accommodate chemicals to be processed; removing a portion of the slurry from the microchannel such that the slurry layer is disposed on or between the plurality of microchannel walls; and heating the microstructure for a sufficient time and at a sufficient temperature to cure and bind the slurry layer to the plurality of microchannel walls producing a cured slurry layer that forms a catalyst support, wherein said coating is performed by one of dip coating, brushing, and spraying, wherein the support comprises a material chosen from at least one of a binder sol, a sinterable particulate solid, and a molecular sieve, and wherein, after the heating step, the method further comprises filling the microchannel with a solution comprising a catalyst to impregnate the cured slurry layer with the catalyst, producing a catalyst-impregnated slurry layer.