Influence of Ti addition on aluminithermic reaction with different oxidizers

Aluminum (Al), with its abundance and high energy release, has attracted great interest in nanocomposite energetic systems. However, the ignition temperature and combustion performance of Al-based thermites are limited by the oxide shell coating on the Al core. A novel metal carbodiimide oxidizer has been employed to assemble thermite with superior energy release in comparison with metal-oxide-based thermite. In this work, titanium (Ti) nanoparticles have been incorporated into the Al/CuNCN system with virous mass ratio (from 0 % to 100 %) to adjust their energetic behavior in comparison with traditional Al/CuO. The component, structure and morphology of the energetic composites were charactered by X-ray diffraction (XRD), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM) and Fourier transform infrared spectrophotometry (FT-IR). The temporal pressure traces and heat release of Al/Ti/CuNCN and Al/Ti/CuO composites have been measured via combustion cell and calorimetry, respectively. The over pressure of Al/30 %Ti/CuNCN reached to be 80 KPa, which is higher 9 KPa than the maximum pressure of Al/Ti/CuO. The energy release for both Al/Ti/CuNCN and Al/Ti/CuO proved to be lower than that of Al or Ti with oxides (CuO or CuNCN) owing to the alloying reaction. The high pressure of Al/Ti/CuNCN may offer the potential routes to prepare gas generators, and the results would be an essential guide in designing thermites. Besides, the metal nitrides such as AlN, TiN, Ti 9 N 3.87 were obtained in the aluminothermic reaction, providing new possible for the preparation of novel materials following a self-propagating route within one second.