Synthesis, Characterization and Thermal/Kinetic Studies of Nano Energetic Al-Metal Oxides Thermite System

Abstract

In more recent times researchers have found that energetic materials which are produced on nano scale show notably improved performances, particularly in the area of sensitivity. Nanothermites signify one example of such materials. These systems include metals (e.g. aluminum) and oxidizers (e.g. iron oxide). Nano-thermite complex powders have greater exothermic characteristics and have the benefit of achieving properties unattainable by conventional micron sized predecessors. In this thesis, the reaction kinetics of Al–Fe2O3, Al–CuO and Al–ZnO thermite systems are reported. Oxidizer i.e. α-Fe2O3 was synthesized by forced hydrolysis method. It is noted that the small particle size of oxidizer (nm range) increases the interfacial contact area between Al as fuel and Fe2O3, CuO and ZnO respectively as oxidizers, which speeds up the thermite reaction process to produce noteworthy enhancement in the reaction kinetics. It was also found that the important parameters for improving the combustion kinetics of thermite systems were intimate mixing and size of the individual componen