In December 2018, ACSNANO published a research result in cooperation with the U.S. Army, including Stanford University, MIT, University of Southern California, and Argonne Laboratory. Researchers found a way to improve micron-level aluminum The energy performance of powder-based metal powders as military ammunition propellants and explosives.
The study found that using graphene oxide as a small amount of additive, composites formed with micron-sized aluminum powder can release more energy at a faster rate. Studies have shown that this makes the cost performance of micron aluminum powders better than nanometer aluminum powders, and it can also control the ignition and combustion by changing the content of graphene oxide to meet the energy output requirements.
Due to the theoretical heat release and price of aluminum, micron-sized aluminum powder has been widely used in high-energy applications, but its light absorption performance is poor, so it usually needs to be used with other heavy metal oxides, so energy performance has to be sacrificed. In contrast, although nano-sized aluminum powder has good light absorption performance, it is costly and cannot be popularized.
The research results used a laser-induced air impact (lasem) technology. The pulsed laser was used to detonate micron-sized aluminum powder and graphene oxide composites, and a faster release speed than pure aluminum powder and pure graphene oxide was obtained. Thermal reaction. According to the Army ARL Lab, this could be used to increase the range and lethality of existing weapons.