Iron and Copper Doped Zinc Oxide Nanopowders as a Sensitizer of Industrial Energetic Materials to Visible Laser Radiation

The development of methods ensuring reliable control over explosive chemical reactions is a critical task for the safe and efficient application of energetic materials. Triggering the explosion by laser radiation is one of the promising methods. In this work, we demonstrate a technique of applying the common industrial high explosive pentaerythritol tetranitrate (PETN) as a photosensitive energetic material by adding zinc oxide nanopowders doped with copper and iron. Nanopowders of ZnO:Fe and ZnO:Cu able to absorb visible light were synthesized. The addition of one mass percent nanopowders in PETN decreased the threshold energy density of its initiation through Nd:YAG laser second harmonic (2.33 eV) by more than five times. The obtained energetic composites can be reliably initiated by a CW blue laser diode with a wavelength of 450 nm and power of 21 W. The low threshold initiation energy and short irradiation exposure of the PETN-ZnO:Cu composite makes it applicable in laser initiation devices. PETN-ZnO:Cu also can be initiated by an infrared laser diode with a wavelength of 808 nm. The proposed photochemical mechanism of the laser-induced triggering of the explosion reaction in the studied energetic composites was formulated. The results demonstrate the high promise of using nanomaterials based on zinc oxide as a sensitizer of industrial energetic materials to visible laser radiation.

Automated summary

The development of methods for controlling explosive chemical reactions is essential for the safe and efficient use of energetic materials. This study demonstrates the use of zinc oxide nanopowders doped with copper and iron as photosensitive materials to initiate explosions in the industrial explosive PETN. The addition of these nanopowders significantly reduces the energy required for initiation, enabling reliable explosion triggering using lasers of different wavelengths.