Pioneering insights into the superior performance of titanium as a fuel in energetic materials

Initial stage of titanium oxidation in Ti/CuO thermites: a molecular dynamics study using ReaxFF forcefields

“…, it remains in the form of a am TiO 2 glassy state (Fig. 3g), which corroborates recent experimental findings by T. Wu et al 37 on the structural and chemical characterization of the growing interface in Ti/CuO nanolaminate. The authors showed that Ti is oxidized in TiO at 600 K, and further oxidized into crystalline TiO 2 after annealing at 800 K. In addition, the authors did not observe migration of Ti and concluded that oxygens are the sole migrating species below 800 K in Ti/CuO nanolaminates.…”

“…34 Very recently, Wu and Rossi experimentally investigated the mechanisms leading to the superior reactivity and ignitability of Ti-based thermites in comparison to Al-based counterpart. 37 They observed a two-step Ti oxidation process occurring starting at low temperature, with an oxidation step of Ti forming TiO, at 300 °C, followed by a second oxidation step turning the TiO layer into TiO 2 , at 500 °C. They concluded that these low-temperature exothermal processes are the primary reaction pathways responsible for the low initiation temperature and high reactivity of thermite containing metallic Ti.…”

“…Zhao and Zachariah found that incorporation of titanium metal into Al/I2O5 thermite increases the pressurization rate, i.e., reactivity, by a factor of 1000, and reduces the initiation temperature from ∼610 °C to ∼300 °C34 . Very recently, Wu and Rossi experimentally investigated the mechanisms leading to the superior reactivity and ignitability of Ti-based thermites in comparison to Al-based counterpart 37 . They observed a two-step Ti oxidation process occurring starting at low temperature, with an oxidation step of Ti forming TiO, at 300 °C, followed by a second oxidation step turning the TiO layer into TiO2, at 500 °C.…”

Ignition and Combustion Characteristics of Al/TiB2-Based Nanothermites: Effect of Bifuel Distribution

“…Further information about the sputtering process can be found in our previous studies. 23,36 Various CuO/Al-TiB 2 multilayers were prepared to perform a head-to-head comparison. Each sample was composed of 10 bilayers (BL) of CuO/Al-TiB 2 starting with CuO followed by the deposition of the Al-TiB 2 layer as shown in Figure 1.…”

“…22 Nevertheless, Al−Ti (with CuO oxidizer) was reported to be a considerably sensitive nanothermite, accompanied by significant fabrication and safety challenges. 23 Boron is another fuel of interest 24−26 due to its relatively higher gravimetric and volumetric reaction enthalpies (∼140 kJ/cm 3 , ∼60 kJ/g), but the associated kinetic constraints discourage its use. 27 The natively occurring B 2 O 3 , with a low melting point of ∼450 °C, presents itself as a major barrier to oxygen diffusion.…”