Project Team
Students
Eugene J. Haley
Chemical Engineering
Penn State Beaver, Penn State University Park
Faculty Mentors
Themis Matsoukas
Penn State University Park
Department of Chemical Engineering
Prawal Agarwal
Penn State University Park
Chemical Engineering
Project
Project Video
Project Abstract
Aluminum (Al, 31 kJ/g) and Boron (B, 58 kJ/g) are highly energetic metals with numerous applications such as rocket fuels. Nanoparticles are especially beneficial in overcoming kinetic limitations but suffer because a substantial fraction of their mass is already oxidized in the form of a thin native oxide at the particle surface. The oxide layer represents dead weight that decreases the gravimetric energy density of the material and acts as a diffusion barrier that hinders oxidation. One way to minimize these effects is via the synthesis of Al-B compounds. In this study, we develop a facile method to synthesize energetic Al-B composites by annealing a stoichiometric mixture of Aluminum (70 nanometers) and Boron (500 nanometers). We further treat the synthesized composites by plasma deposition of a thin fluorocarbon film in nonthermal plasma. We characterize the oxidation and energy release of the material by Thermogravimetric Analysis (TGA) and Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC).
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