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Exploring the solid-state interfacial reaction of Al/Fe2O3 nanothermites by thermal analysis

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Abstract

In this study, we use simultaneous differential scanning calorimetry and thermogravimetric analysis to analyze the solid-state reaction characteristics of Al/Fe2O3 nanothermites before n-Al melts. Different experimental setups for thermal analysis are compared, and the heat-release characteristics are studied on Al/Fe2O3 nanothermites in the form of powder and pellet, respectively. It is found that protection provided by mere argon flow is far from enough for thermal analysis of Al/Fe2O3 nanothermites. The experimental setup must be free of oxygen; otherwise, the determined exothermic peak is mostly the oxidation of n-Al by the residue oxygen molecules in the furnace body, due to the high reactivity and moderate accessibility of free oxygen molecules. Under proper experimental setup, it is found that besides the redox reaction between n-Al and n-Fe2O3, intermetallic reaction also occurs to form Fe4Al13. Moreover, the intermetallic reaction is more noticeable for nanothermite pellet than for nanothermite powder, and the eutectic reaction of Fe4Al13 and n-Al leads to melting peaks below 655 °C. The results indicate that instrument configuration and sample status affect the testing results to a large extent, and one should be prudent to derive reaction characteristics of nanothermites.

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Acknowledgements

This work was financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 51706105) and the Natural Science Foundation of Jiangsu Province (No. BK20170846).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. National Special Superfine Powder Engineering Research Center of China, Nanjing University of Science and Technology, Nanjing, China

    Xiang Zhou & Xiang Ke

  2. Department of Mechanical Engineering, City University of Hong Kong, 83 Tat Chee Avenue, Kowloon, Hong Kong

    Ying Zhu & Kaili Zhang

Authors
  1. Xiang Zhou
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  2. Ying Zhu
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Correspondence to Xiang Zhou.

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Zhou, X., Zhu, Y., Ke, X. et al. Exploring the solid-state interfacial reaction of Al/Fe2O3 nanothermites by thermal analysis. J Mater Sci 54, 4115–4123 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10853-018-3094-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10853-018-3094-6

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