Nanocomposite thermite powders prepared by cryomilling

Carlo Badiola, Mirko Schoenitz, Xiaoying Zhu, Edward L. Dreizin

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

59 Scopus citations

Abstract

Reactive nanocomposite materials have been recently prepared by Arrested Reactive Milling (ARM), a method based on mechanical milling of component powders to form micron-sized composite particles where components are mixed on a scale of about 100 nm. The milling temperature affects both the refinement rate and the final product properties. In this paper we report an effort to prepare Al-CuO reactive nanocomposite powders at cryogenic temperatures. The material was processed in a liquid nitrogen bath using steel vials and balls of different sizes as milling media. The number and dimensions of the milling balls as well as the milling time were systematically varied. The products were characterized by X-ray diffraction, particle size analysis, and scanning electron microscopy. Thermal characteristics were studied using a custom wire-ignition setup and differential scanning calorimetry. Results show that the uniformity of mixing and reactivity of the nanocomposite powders can be improved using milling at cryogenic temperatures.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)386-391
Number of pages6
JournalJournal of Alloys and Compounds
Volume488
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - Nov 20 2009

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • Mechanics of Materials
  • Mechanical Engineering
  • Metals and Alloys
  • Materials Chemistry

Keywords

  • Calorimetry
  • Mechanical alloying
  • Metals and alloys
  • Nanostructured materials
  • Thermal analysis
  • X-ray diffraction

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Nanocomposite thermite powders prepared by cryomilling'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this