Abstract
Fuel-rich composite powders combining elemental Si with the metal fluoride oxidizers BiF3 and CoF2 were prepared by arrested reactive milling. Reactivity of the composite powders was assessed using thermoanalytical measurements in both inert (Ar) and oxidizing (Ar/O2) environments. Powders were ignited using an electrically heated filament; particle combustion experiments were performed in room air using a CO2 laser as an ignition source. Both composites showed accelerated oxidation of Si when heated in oxidizing environments and ignited readily using the heated filament. Elemental Si, used as a reference, did not exhibit appreciable oxidation when heated under the same conditions and could not be ignited using either a heated filament or laser. Lower-temperature Si fluoride formation and oxidation were observed for the composites with BiF3; respectively, the ignition temperature for these composite powders was also lower. Particle combustion experiments were successful with the Si/BiF3 composite. The statistical distribution of the measured particle burn times was correlated with the measured particle size distribution to establish the effect of particle sizes on their burn times. The measured burn times were close to those measured for similar composites with Al and B serving as fuels.
Recommended Citation
S. K. Valluri et al., "Preparation And Characterization Of Silicon-metal Fluoride Reactive Composites," Nanomaterials, vol. 10, no. 12, pp. 1 - 23, article no. 2367, MDPI, Dec 2020.
The definitive version is available at https://doi.org/10.3390/nano10122367
Department(s)
Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
Publication Status
Open Access
Keywords and Phrases
Ignition; Metal combustion; Nanocomposite; Reactive materials; Thermal analysis
International Standard Serial Number (ISSN)
2079-4991
Document Type
Article - Journal
Document Version
Citation
File Type
text
Language(s)
English
Rights
© 2026 The Authors, All rights reserved.
Creative Commons Licensing
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Publication Date
01 Dec 2020
Comments
Funding: This research was finded in part by the Office of Naval Research, Grant N00014-19-1-2048 and by the Defense Threat Reduction Agency, Grant HDTRA1-17-1-0044.
Recommended Citation: Valluri, S.K.; Schoenitz, M.; Dreizin, E. Preparation and Characterization of Silicon-Metal Fluoride Reactive Composites. Nanomaterials 2020, 10, 2367. https://doi.org/10.3390/nano10122367