Pore structure regulation of aluminum powder as a filler for high energy solid propellants

Abstract

Aluminum (Al) powder, as a high-energy metal combustible agent, has advantages such as high calorific value and low cost. It has important research value in energetic materials. However, due to the Al2O3 layer on the surface of Al powder, the contact area between Al powder and oxidant components is reduced, resulting in a decrease in its energy release performance. In this paper, a modified Al powder with porous structure was prepared by chemical corrosion method to solve the problem that its small contact area with oxidant components affects its energy release performance. The study found that when the concentration of HF solution is 3.0 wt%, the removal effect of the oxide layer of Al powder is most effective, with a surface O element content of only 0.6 wt% and a uniform porous structure on the surface of Al powder. In addition, experiments have shown that nano CuO can be well filled into the pore structure of modified Al, increasing the contact area between Al powder and oxidant. This work provides a novel and simple research approach for effectively improving the energy release performance of Al based energetic materials.