Energetic Performance of Optically Activated Aluminum/Graphene Oxide Composites

Journal Article · 14 October 2018 · ACS Nano

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1021/acsnano.8b06217 · OSTI ID:1484206

Jiang, Yue ^[1]; Deng, Sili  ^[2]; Hong, Sungwook  ^[3]; Zhao, Jiheng  ^[4]; Huang, Sidi  ^[4]; Wu, Chi-Chin ^[5]; Gottfried, Jennifer L. ^[5]; Nomura, Ken-ichi ^[3]; Li, Ying  ^[6]; Tiwari, Subodh ^[3]; Kalia, Rajiv K. ^[3]; Vashishta, Priya  ^[3]; Nakano, Aiichiro  ^[3]; Zheng, Xiaolin  ^[4]

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1. Stanford Univ., CA (United States). Dept. of Mechanical Engineering and Dept. of Materials Science and Engineering
2. Stanford Univ., CA (United States). Dept. of Mechanical Engineering; Massachusetts Inst. of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, MA (United States). Dept. of Mechanical Engineering
3. Univ. of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA (United States). Collaboratory for Advanced Computing and Simulations, Dept. of Physics & Astronomy, Dept. of Computer Science, Dept. of Chemical Engineering & Materials Science, and Dept. of Biological Sciences
4. Stanford Univ., CA (United States). Dept. of Mechanical Engineering
5. Army Research Lab., Aberdeen, MD (United States). Weapons and Materials Research Directorate
6. Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States)

Optical ignition of solid energetic materials, which can rapidly release heat, gas, and thrust, is still challenging due to the limited light absorption and high ignition energy of typical energetic materials ( e.g., aluminum, Al). Here, we demonstrated that the optical ignition and combustion properties of micron-sized Al particles were greatly enhanced by adding only 20 wt % of graphene oxide (GO). These enhancements are attributed to the optically activated disproportionation and oxidation reactions of GO, which release heat to initiate the oxidization of Al by air and generate gaseous products to reduce the agglomeration of the composites and promote the pressure rise during combustion. More importantly, compared to conventional additives such as metal oxides nanoparticles ( e.g., WO₃ and Bi₂O₃), GO has much lower density and therefore could improve energetic properties without sacrificing Al content. Finally, the results from Xe flash ignition and laser-based excitation experiments demonstrate that GO is an efficient additive to improve the energetic performance of micron-sized Al particles, enabling micron-sized Al to be ignited by optical activation and promoting the combustion of Al in air.

• Research Organization: Argonne National Laboratory (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES) (SC-22)
• Grant/Contract Number: AC02-06CH11357
• OSTI ID: 1484206
• Journal Information: ACS Nano, Journal Name: ACS Nano Journal Issue: 11 Vol. 12; ISSN 1936-0851
• Publisher: American Chemical Society (ACS)Copyright Statement
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English