US Patent 7816845 Ceramic electrode and ignition device therewith

An electrode for an ignition device is made from a conductive ceramic of the form Mn+1AXn, where M is a transition metal, A is a group IIIA or IVA element, and X is nitrogen, carbon, or both carbon and nitrogen. M may be transition metals selected from the group of Ti, Mb, Ta, V, Cr, Mo, Sc, Zr and Hf. A may be selected from a group consisting of Al, Ga, In, Tl, Si, Ge, Sn, Pb, P, As and S. The spark ignition device may include a spark plug having an insulator, conductive shell, center electrode and ground electrode where the conductive ceramic electrode is at least one of the center or ground electrodes.