Energetic Nanocomposites with Sol-gel Chemistry: Synthesis, Safety, and Characterization

The preparation and characterization of energetic composite materials containing nanometer-sized constituents is currently a very active and exciting area of research at laboratories around the world. Some of these efforts have produced materials that have shown very unique and important properties relative to traditional energetic materials. We have previously reported on the use of sol-gel chemical methods to prepare energetic nanocomposites. Primarily we reported on the sol-gel method to synthesize nanometer-sized ferric oxide that was combined with aluminum fuel to make pyrotechnic nanocomposites. Since then we have developed a synthetic approach that allows for the preparation of hybrid inorganic/organic energetic nanocomposites. This material has been characterized by thermal methods, energy-filtered transmission electron microscopy (EFTEM), N, adsorption/desorption methods, and Fourier-Transform (FT-IR) spectroscopy, results of which will be discussed. According to these characterization methods the organic polymer phase fills the nanopores of the composite material, providing superb mixing of the component phases in the energetic nanocomposite. The EFTEM results provide a convenient and effective way to evaluate the intimacy of mixing between these component phases. The safe handling and preparation of energetic nanocomposites is of paramount importance to this research and we will report on studies performed to ensure such.