Electrostatic interactions for directed assembly of high performance nanostructured energetic materials of Al/Fe2O3/multi-walled carbon nanotube (MWCNT)

Electrostatic self-assembly in organic solvent without intensively oxidative or corrosive environments, was adopted to prepare Al/Fe 2 O 3 /MWCNT nanostructured energetic materials as an energy generating material. The negatively charged MWCNT was used as a glue-like agent to direct the self-assembly of the well dispersed positively charged Al (fuel) and Fe 2 O 3 (oxide) nanoparticles . This spontaneous assembly method without any surfactant chemistry or other chemical and biological moieties decreased the aggregation of the same nanoparticles largely, moreover, the poor interfacial contact between the Al (fuel) and Fe 2 O 3 (oxide) nanoparticles was improved significantly, which was the key characteristic of high performance nanostructured energetic materials. In addition, the assembly process was confirmed as Diffusion-Limited Aggregation. The assembled Al/Fe 2 O 3 /MWCNT nanostructured energetic materials showed excellent performance with heat release of 2400   J/g, peak pressure of 0.42   MPa and pressurization rate of 105.71   MPa/s, superior to that in the control group Al/Fe 2 O 3 nanostructured energetic materials prepared by sonication with heat release of 1326   J/g, peak pressure of 0.19   MPa and pressurization rate of 33.33   MPa/s. Therefore, the approach, which is facile, opens a promising route to the high performance nanostructured energetic materials.