Development of Highly Active Titania-Based Nanoparticles for Energetic Materials

Abstract

Recent advances in nanostructured fuels and oxidizers may lead to high-performance energetic materials for propulsion, but these nanoparticulates present serious challenges due to their inherent instability and safety hazards and difficulty of manufacture. In this paper, we develop an alternate route, the use of nanoscale metal-oxides to catalyze reactions between micrometer-scale energetic constituents. Methods to synthesize TiO2-based nanoparticles that are highly active toward energetic reactions and effectively incorporate them into energetic composites are reported. Activity was maximized by tuning the physical and chemical properties of the nano-TiO2 dispersion in the composite. An 81% increase in combustion rate was achieved with a nanoparticle loading of 1 wt %, making energetically active nano-TiO2 a viable material for advanced propulsion, without the hazards and difficulties of competing technologies.