Synergism of nanothermite and nanophosphrous compound for advanced infrared flares with superior spectral performance

Abstract

ABSTRACT Hydroxyapatite (HA) is one of the most common biocompatible material with high phosphorous content (18.5 wt %). HA is thermally stable compound that requires high temperature to decompose; upon decomposition active phosphorus can offer enhanced thermal signature for effective countermeasure of infrared missiles. High reaction temperature can be accomplished via high energy density materials such as nanothermites. This study reports on the facile synthesis of Fe2O3 nanoparticles (5 nm average particle size) and HA nanoplates (530 nm length, 140 nm width) using hydrothermal synthesis. Whereas ferric oxide was employed for nanothermite reactions, HA was employed as phosphorous source material. The effect of developed nanomaterials on thermal signature of traditional Magnesium/Teflon/Viton (MTV) decoy flare was evaluated using Arc-Optics IR spectrometer (1–6 µm). Whereas Fe2O3 (8 wt %) offered enhanced average intensity value by 67%; synergism between HA and Fe2O3 particles offered enhanced spectral performance by 97%. Key radiometric performance parameter is the relative intensity ratio Ɵ(Ɵ = Iα/ Iβ); synergism between HA and Fe2O3 offered superior radiometric performance with Ɵ value of 0.59; this value is similar to aircraft value. This novel spectral performance shaded the light on HA as novel phosphorus material for advanced infrared countermeasure flares.