Thermal analysis of mechanically activated Al-(Fe2O3, MoO3, and MnO2) metastable intermolecular composites

Abstract

Metastable intermolecular composites (MIC) are among energetic materials that can act as burn rate catalysts in many applications and composition determines how quickly the mixture burns. Such materials can be prepared by the arrested reactive milling (ARM) process. In this study, Al-Fe2O3, Al-MoO3, and Al-MnO2 thermite systems were milled via ARM for 0, 4, and 8 h to evaluate the effects of mechanical activation time and thermite mix on the reaction temperature and intensity, evaluated using DSC analysis. The results of DSC, SEM, and XRD analyses indicated that the morphology and average particle size of as received metal oxides had a considerably effective on achieving reaction initiation and reaction intensity level. It was found that MoO3 powders with a considerably higher average particle size (lower agglomeration) than those of the other oxides, requiring a lower milling time for reaction start with a considerable intensity, while the results obtained for Al-Fe2O3 and Al-MnO2 systems were not promising for achieving a low mechanical activation time and high reaction intensity.