Nanoporous Silicon Based Energetic Materials
Abstract
Energetic materials are an important component of military defense systems and are used in applications ranging from explosives to gun and missile propulsion. Energetic materials are used in a number of critical defense components ranging from shaped charges, actuators, and delay lines to detonators. U.S. defense needs for advanced energetics have been evolving rapidly in recent years. The need for increased mobility, enhanced range and lethality, reduced or modified signatures, reduced collateral damage, and the capability to destroy hardened and buried targets has increased demand for enhanced energetic materials (NRC Report 2004). Nanoscale materials have been instrumental in the development of new energetic materials with novel properties. Energetic materials that are produced on the nanoscale have the promise of increased performance in a variety of ways. Metastable Intermolecular Composites (MICs) belong to a class of nanoscale energetic materials that have been extensively studied. MIC formulations are mixtures of nanoscale powders of reactants that exhibit thermite (high exothermicity) behavior. The main difference from more traditional energetics is that the reactivity is based on intramolecular (not intermolecular) properties. The MIC formulations are based on intimate mixing of the reactants on the nanometer length scale, with typical particle sizes in the tens of nanometers range (e.g. 30 nm). One important characteristic of MICs is the fact that the rate of energy release can be tailored by varying the size of the components. (Miziolek 2002). Possible applications for these materials include use in environmentally clean primers and detonators, chem/bio agent neutralization, improved rocket propellants, IR flares/decoys, high temperature stable, non-detonable gas generators and thermal batteries.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Dec 01, 2008
- Accession Number
- ADA506071
Entities
People
- Deepak Kapoor
- Paul Redner
- Santosh Limaye
- Shanthi Subramanian
- Terry Tiegs