Thermal reactions of nitrocellulose-encapsulated Al/CuO nanoenergetic materials fabricated in the gas and liquid phases

Abstract We examined the effect of polymer encapsulation on the insensitivity and thermal reactions of Al and CuO-based nanoenergetic materials (nEMs). The nEMs were encapsulated by nitrocellulose (NC) polymer using aerosol and solution drying processes for comparison. Severe aggregation and precipitation of Al/CuO reactants in the NC matrix were made in the liquid phase during the drying process so that the thermal reactions of the resulting Al/CuO/NC composites was unstable. However, the rapid aerosol drying process in the gas phase resulted in the formation of uniformly mixed NC-encapsulated Al/CuO composites. The NC content in the Al/CuO composites fabricated in the gas phase strongly affected the thermal reactions by perturbing thermochemical interactions between the Al and CuO reactants. Meanwhile, the insensitivity of Al/CuO composites gradually increased with increasing NC content. Therefore, the aerosol drying process in the gas phase is suggested as a viable and effective method to generate polymer-encapsulated homogeneously mixed nEMs with enhanced insensitivity and thermal reaction properties.