In recent years, polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE)/aluminum (Al) energetic materials with high-energy density have attracted extensive attention and have broad application prospects, but the low-energy release efficiency restricts their application. In this paper, oxide, bismuth trioxide (Bi2O3) or molybdenum trioxide (MoO3) are introduced into PTFE/Al to improve the chemical reaction performance of energetic materials. The pressurization characteristics of PTFE/Al/oxide as pressure generators are compared and analyzed. The experiments show that the significantly optimized quasi-static pressure peak, impulse, and energy release efficiency (0.162 MPa, 10.177 s·kPa, and 0.74) are achieved for PTFE/Al by adding 30 wt.% Bi2O3. On the other hand, the optimal parameter obtained by adding 10% MoO3 is 0.147 MPa, 9.184 s·kPa, and 0.68. Further, the mechanism of enhancing the energy release performance of PTFE/Al through oxide is revealed. The mechanism analysis shows that the shock-induced energy release performance of PTFE/Al energetic material is affected by the intensity of the shock wave and the chemical reaction extent of the material under the corresponding intensity. The oxide to PTFE/Al increases the intensity of the shock wave in the material, but the chemical reaction extent of the material decreases under the corresponding intensity.

Polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE)/aluminum (Al)-based energetic material is a kind of energetic material with great application potential. In this research, the control of the shock-induced energy release characteristics of PTFE/Al-based energetic material by adding oxides (bismuth trioxide, copper oxide, molybdenum trioxide, and iron trioxide) was studied by experimentation and theoretical analysis. Ballistic impact experiments with impact velocity of 735~1290 m/s showed that the oxides controlled the energy release characteristics by the coupling of impact velocities and oxide characteristics. In these experiments, the overpressure characteristics, including the quasi-static overpressure peak, duration, and impulse, were used to characterize the energy release characteristics. It turned out that when the nominal impact velocity was 735 m/s, the quasi-static overpressure peak of PTFE/Al/MoO3 (0.1190 MPa) was 1.99 times higher than that of PTFE/Al (0.0598 Mpa). Based on these experimental results, an analytical model was developed indicating that the apparent activation energy and impact shock pressure dominated the energy release characteristic of PTFE/Al/oxide. This controlling mechanism indicated that oxides enhanced the reaction after shock wave unloading, and the chemical and physical properties of the corresponding thermites also affected the energy release characteristics. These conclusions can guide the design of PTFE-based energetic materials, especially the application of oxides in PTFE-based reactive materials.