Effects of metal oxide nanoparticles on combustion and gas-generating performance of NaN3/Al composite powders ignited using a microhotplate platform

Abstract We investigated the effects of different metal oxide (MO) nanoparticles (e.g., CuO, KIO4, Fe2O3) on the combustion and gas-generating characteristics of sodium azide microparticle (NaN3 MP; gas-generating agent) and aluminum nanoparticle (Al NP; heat source) composite powders. The NaN3 MP/Al NP/MO NP composite powders were stably ignited using a microhotplate (MHP) heater. The addition of CuO and KIO4 to the NaN3 MP/Al NP composite powders resulted in relatively high burn rates and high pressurization rates upon MHP-assisted ignition. This suggests that the highly reactive CuO and KIO4 NPs significantly increased the combustion of the Al NPs; as a result, sufficient heat energy was generated via the active aluminothermic reaction to thermally decompose the NaN3 MPs. Finally, the gas generating properties of NaN3 MP/Al NP composite powders mixed with various MO NPs were tested using homemade inflatable small airbags. The airbags were fully inflated within ∼20 ms when CuO and KIO4 NPs were added to the NaN3 MP/Al NP composite powders. However, the addition of Fe2O3 NPs to the NaN3 MP/Al NP composite powder resulted in a slow and only partial inflation of the airbag due to an incomplete aluminothermic reaction, which was due to a slow combustion reaction between the Al NPs and relatively weak oxidizer of the Fe2O3 NPs. This suggests that the rapid, stable, and complete thermal decomposition of NaN3 MP/Al NP composites can be effectively achieved by employing highly reactive nanoscale oxidizers.