Combustion synthesis of LiGa and LiAl intermetallic alloys

Abstract

LiAl and LiGa intermetallic alloys have been synthesized using the simultaneous combustion mode of combustion synthesis. LiAl intermetallic is potentially suitable as a temper alloy for producing aluminum-lithium alloys and as an anodic material for high-energy batteries. LiGa can be used as a reduction alloy to recover valuable reactive metals from molten salt effluent in actinide recovery technology. The effects of particle size, preignition heating rate, and theoretical green density on the ignition and combustion temperatures have been studied in an effort to more precisely control the synthesis reaction of these intermetallics. A lithium particle size of -20/xm was found to be suitable when the combustion synthesis reaction was conducted at a high heating rate (>1.0 cC/s) and a moderate green density (55 to 65 pct theoretical). Preignition diffusion is suggested as the cause for low exothermic heat release at high green densities. A combustion temperature above the melting point of the LiGa intermetallic compound can be achieved under optimized conditions. However, the exothermicity and, therefore, the adiabatic temperature is too low for either LiAl or LiGa to be produced by the propagating mode of combustion synthesis.