Shock induced reaction of Ni/Al nanopowder mixture

Nanopowder Ni/Al mixture (mixed in Al:Ni = 2:1 stoichiometry) was shock compressed by employing single and two-stage light gas gun. The particle size of Al and Ni are 100-200 nm and 50-70 nm respectively, morphologies of Al and Ni are sphere like either. Recovered product was characterized by scanning electron microscope (SEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis. According to the XRD spectrum, the mixed powder undergo complete reaction under shock compression, reaction product consist of Ni2Al3, NiAl and corundum structure Al2O3 compound. Grain size of Ni-Al compound is less than 100 nm. With the shock pressure increasing, the ratio of Ni2Al3 decreased obviously. The corundum crystal size is 400-500 nm according to the SEM observation. The results of shock recovery experiments and analysis show that the threshold pressure for reaction of nano size powder Ni/Al mixture is much less than that of micro size powder.