Aluminum–Iodoform Composite Reactive Material

Abstract

Mechanically alloyed aluminum–iodoform composites were prepared with iodine concentration of 20 wt%. Ball milling at both room temperature and liquid nitrogen temperature was explored. Material characterization by electron microscopy and X‐ray diffraction showed no difference between samples milled at different temperatures. However, samples prepared at room temperature aged rapidly. Thermo‐gravimetric measurements quantifying release of iodine upon heating confirmed that cryogenic milling was necessary to stabilize iodoform in the Al‐matrix. Iodine was released upon heating in four distinct stages. The oxidation of the prepared materials was also studied using thermo‐gravimetric analysis and two main oxidation steps were detected. The ignition temperatures were determined for powders coated onto a metal filament heated electrically at 103–104 K min−1. The ignition temperatures of the prepared materials were noticeably lower compared to the Al · I2 composite prepared using a similar cryo‐milling approach. The combustion characteristics determined using constant volume explosions of aerosolized powders were found to be similar to those of Al · I2 composite. The maximum pressure and rate of pressure rise observed in the latter experiments were greater than for pure aluminum powders with comparable particle sizes.