TY - JOUR
T1 - Plasma surface treatment of aluminum nanoparticles for energetic material applications
AU - Miller, Kelsea K.
AU - Gottfried, Jennifer L.
AU - Walck, Scott D.
AU - Pantoya, Michelle L.
AU - Wu, Chi Chin
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2019
Copyright:
Copyright 2019 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.
PY - 2019/8
Y1 - 2019/8
N2 - Aluminum nanoparticles (nAl)have great potential for energetic applications. However, the native oxide shell (amorphous alumina, Al2O3)inhibits efficient energy release and acts as a barrier for aluminum (Al)oxidation. An energetic oxidizer, aluminum iodate hexahydrate (AIH), has recently been demonstrated as an effective coating for nAl. However, the current chemical synthesis method has led to widely varying AIH concentrations on nAl particles. Plasma surface treatment of nAl is a novel “energy coupled to material” technique which alters the nAl surface properties without changing the bulk active Al core. This work explores a new approach to engineering the nAl surface using atmospheric argon (Ar)plasma to accomplish two objectives: (1)reduce the nAl oxide shell thickness, and (2)synthesize AIH on the treated particle surface. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM)reveals more than 40% reduction in the oxide thickness after 10 min Ar plasma treatment. Laser-induced air shock from energetic materials (LASEM)experiments show significant energy release enhancements for the plasma-treated nAl with AIH coating (PT-nAl-AIH)compared to commercial nAl as well as untreated nAl with AIH coating (UT-nAl-AIH). The results demonstrate the potential of applying atmospheric plasma techniques to modify nAl for enhanced reactivity.
AB - Aluminum nanoparticles (nAl)have great potential for energetic applications. However, the native oxide shell (amorphous alumina, Al2O3)inhibits efficient energy release and acts as a barrier for aluminum (Al)oxidation. An energetic oxidizer, aluminum iodate hexahydrate (AIH), has recently been demonstrated as an effective coating for nAl. However, the current chemical synthesis method has led to widely varying AIH concentrations on nAl particles. Plasma surface treatment of nAl is a novel “energy coupled to material” technique which alters the nAl surface properties without changing the bulk active Al core. This work explores a new approach to engineering the nAl surface using atmospheric argon (Ar)plasma to accomplish two objectives: (1)reduce the nAl oxide shell thickness, and (2)synthesize AIH on the treated particle surface. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM)reveals more than 40% reduction in the oxide thickness after 10 min Ar plasma treatment. Laser-induced air shock from energetic materials (LASEM)experiments show significant energy release enhancements for the plasma-treated nAl with AIH coating (PT-nAl-AIH)compared to commercial nAl as well as untreated nAl with AIH coating (UT-nAl-AIH). The results demonstrate the potential of applying atmospheric plasma techniques to modify nAl for enhanced reactivity.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85065499311&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.combustflame.2019.04.042
DO - 10.1016/j.combustflame.2019.04.042
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85065499311
VL - 206
SP - 211
EP - 213
JO - Combustion and Flame
JF - Combustion and Flame
SN - 0010-2180
ER -