Enhanced reactivity of nano-B/Al/CuO MIC's

Aluminum is traditionally used as the primary fuel in nanocomposite energetic systems due to its abundance and high energy release. However, thermodynamically boron releases more energy on both a mass and volumetric basis. Kinetic limitations can explain why boron rarely achieves its full potential in practical combustion applications, and thus has not replaced aluminum as the primary fuel in energetic systems. In particular, the existence of the naturally formed boron oxide (B2O3) shell is believed to play a major role in retarding the reactivity by acting as a liquid barrier if it cannot be efficiently removed. In this paper we demonstrate from constant-volume combustion experiments that nanoboron can be used to enhance the reactivity of nanoaluminum-based Metastable Intermolecular Composites (MICs) when the boron is <50 mol% of the fuel. It was also observed that an enhancement was not achieved when micronboron (700 nm) was used. Thermodynamic calculations showed that the aluminum reaction with CuO was sufficient to raise the temperature above similar to 2350 K in those mixtures which showed an enhancement. This is above both the boiling point of B2O3 (2338 K) and the melting point of boron (2350 K). A heat transfer model investigates the heating time of boron for temperatures >2350 K (the region where the enhancement is achieved), and includes three heating times; sensible heating, evaporation of the B2O3 oxide shell, and the melting of pure boron. The model predicts the removal of the B2O3 oxide shell is fast for both the nano- and micronboron, and thus its removal alone cannot explain why nanoboron leads to enhancement while micronboron does not. The major difference in heating times between the nano- and micronboron is the melting time of the boron, with the micronboron taking a significantly longer time to melt than nanoboron. Since the oxide shell removal time is fast for both the nano- and micronboron, and since the enhancement is only achieved when the primary reaction (Al/CuO) can raise the temperature above 2350 K, we conclude that the melting of boron is also necessary for fast reaction in such formulations. Nanoboron can very quickly be heated relative to micronboron, and on a timescale consistent with the timescale of the Al/CuO reaction, thus allowing it to participate more efficiently in the combustion. The results indicate that sufficiently small boron can enhance the reactivity of a nanoaluminum-based MIC when added as the minor component (<50% by mole) of the fuel. (c) 2008 The Combustion Institute. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.