Preparation of Activated Carbon Nanostructured Al@CuO with Low Static Sensitivity and High Reactivity

The porous skeleton structure of oxidizers can effectively enlarge the contact area with fuels and boost the reactivity of thermites, but the overly complex preparation processes tend to limit their use to some extent. To overcome this issue, water-soluble starch and copper nitrate were used as a template to form a carbon skeleton copper oxide (C-CuO) after spray drying and calcination. By adding nanoaluminum into the spray drying process, the n-Al@C-CuO was prepared and compared with the physically mixed n-Al/C-CuO in the context. Scanning electron microscopy and differential scanning calorimetry were used to observe the morphology and analyze the thermal process. The pressure-time test and the electrostatic sensitivity test were used to measure the energy release properties and the safety of the thermites. Results indicated that the n-Al@C-CuO had 60.97 °C earlier initial exothermic temperature and 1.74 times higher peak pressure than that of the physically mixed sample. The n-Al@C-CuO was not ignited under 25 kV in the electrostatic sensitivity test, showing the great electrostatic safety of the sample. These findings are expected to facilitate the development of spray drying and promote energy release of traditional thermites.