Exploring the Effects of Reaction Conditions on Morphology and Stability of Sonochemically Generated Ti-Al-B Fuel Powders
2020
Sonochemically
mediated dehydrogenation of in situ generated complex
metal hydrides is a promising methodology for
the synthesis of mixed-metal powders for fuel applications that can
be tailored toward greater energy content and other desirable characteristics.
Here, we report a significant improvement in the synthesis of Ti–Al–B
reactive metal powders by the elimination of parasitic impurities
from the synthesis, focusing on the effects of synthetic and processing
parameters on the final fuel composition, morphology, energy content,
and reactivity. Reactions to produce fuel samples were carried out
using both the previously reported addition of ethereal solutions
of LiAlH4 and LiBH4 to a solution of TiCl4 and, importantly, the reverse, where a homogeneous solution
of TiCl4 in diethyl ether was added to a homogeneous solution
of LiAlH4 and LiBH4. The product powders were
characterized via TGA/DSC, XPS, ICP-OES of the digestate,
and oxygen bomb calorimetry of polymer-encased metal powder–fuel
composites. In order to accurately measure the energy content of these
materials, HTPB was used as a protective matrix for powders combusted
using bomb calorimetry. The powders produced by the two methods had
similar elemental compositions; however, the materials produced by
“reverse addition” exhibited surprisingly different
morphology and fuel properties compared to the “traditional”
counterparts. The improvements in synthetic methodology lead to significant
improvements in the fuel energy content, remarkable particle size
monodispersity in the submicron size regime, and excellent reproducibility
of the energy release observed for powder fuel-HTPB composites.
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