2012 AIChE Annual Meeting

(764a) Nano-Al and Nano-Al/CuO Thermite Under Rapid Heating: A Mechanistic Study

Authors

Guoqiang Jian - Presenter, University of Maryland
Michael Zachariah, University of Maryland
Nicholas Piekiel, University of Maryland

The aluminum nanoparticles (Al-NPs) and nano-Al/CuO thermite mixture were investigated in a rapid heating environment  by temperature jump time-of-flight mass spectrometry. Upon rapid heating (105 K/s-106 K/s) of Al-NPs in vacuum, Al species intensity was found to slowly increase until a sudden increase occurs at ~2030 K, suggesting an enhancement of the outward diffusion of Al species which is consistent with the diffusion based mechanism. Presence of hollow particles after Al-NPs heated to 1650 K also reveals the diffusion of Al through the oxide shell. The lack of mass production of Al-containing species below 2030 K indicates the oxide shell prevents the mass ejection of Al-containing species from the aluminum core. Time resolved mass spectra of nano-Al/CuO reactions show the existence of Al, Al2O, AlO and Al2O2intermediate reaction products, and the Al2O specie was found to be the main intermediate oxidation product which agrees with the thermochemical calculation results. 

See more of this Session: Nanoenergetic Materials III

See more of this Group/Topical: Particle Technology Forum