Fully packaged paper heater systems with remote and selective ignition capabilities for nanoscale energetic materials

Abstract Development of low-voltage driven multifunctional thermal igniters for nanoscale energetic materials (nEMs) is important for extending the application of nEMs to various thermal engineering fields. In this study, highly flexible heater chips capable of generating a sufficient amount of heat to ignite nEMs at a low voltage are demonstrated by incorporating a patterned aluminum-doped paper (AP) with polymeric substrates. A combination of automatic paper cutting and single-step ultraviolet polymer curing techniques helps in the fabrication of various designs of flexible AP heater chips in a simple and low-cost manner. Based on the AP heater chips, three models of flexible thermal igniters are designed to develop new functions such as selective ignition and sequential ignition in a single chip and successfully operated at low voltages. Two types of compact ignition systems are fabricated by fully integrating the arrayed AP igniters, circuit modules, and portable batteries in a three-dimensional printed single package and on a flexible circuit board. The systems are successfully demonstrated to ignite nEMs wirelessly and selectively with a smartphone.