Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Metastable Nanostructured Metallized Fluoropolymer Composites For Energetics, Hannah A. Miller, Bradley S. Kusel, Seth T. Danielson, James W. Neat, Eryn K. Avjian, Scott N. Pierson, Stephen M. Budy, David W. Ball, Scott T. Iacono, Sharon C. Kettwich

Chemistry Faculty Publications

Fluoropolymers have long served as potent oxidizers for metal-based pyrolant designs for the preparation of energetic materials. Commercial perfluoropolyethers (PFPEs), specifically known as Fomblins®, are well-known to undergo accelerated thermal degradation in the presence of native metals and Lewis acids producing energetically favorable metal fluoride species. This study employs the use of PFPEs to coat nano-aluminum (n-Al) and under optimized stoichiometric formulations, harness optimized energy output. The PFPEs serve as ideal oxidizers of n-Al because they are non-volatile, viscous liquids that coat the particles thereby maximizing surface interactions. The n-Al/PFPE blended combination is required to interface with an epoxy-based matrix …