Novel Superthermite Nanocomposite Hybrid Material Based on CuO Coated Carbon Nanofibers for Advanced Energetic Systems

The surfaces of carbon nanofibers (CNFs) were first pretreated with a catalyst to enable metal deposition and subsequently coated with a nanoscale layer of copper through electroless deposition. The resulting Cu-coated CNF hybrid was annealed at 250 °C to obtain CuO-coated CNFs that were ultrasonically suspended with aluminum nanoparticles (100 nm) in isopropyl alcohol to produce nanothermite colloid; where CuO coating can act as an effective oxidizer for Al nanoparticles. The developed nanothermite colloid was integrated and effectively dispersed in molten tri-nitro toluene (TNT). This novel colloid offers an increase in TNT shock wave strength of by 26% using a ballistic mortar test. Moreover it offers an increase total heat release by 75% using DSC. This is the first time ever to report on nanothermite particles supported on CNFs for highly energetic systems.