Preparation and characterization of the Al/Fe₂O₃/RDX/NC nanocomposites by electrospray

In this study, an advanced electrospray process was successfully used to fabricate aluminum nanopowders (Al)/iron oxide nanopowders (Fe₂O₃)/hexahydro-1,3,5-trinitro-1,3,5-triazine (RDX)/nitrocellulose (NC) composite materials containing different RDX contents. Differential scanning calorimetric analysis indicates that the decomposition temperature of the RDX in the composition prepared by electrospray has a decrease of about 20 °C compared with the raw RDX. Combustion performances in air show that the RDX decreases combustion performance of nanothermites, and the combustion intensity decreases as the RDX content increases. Furthermore, the combustion cell test indicates that the maximum pressure peak has been greatly improved for the Al/Fe₂O₃/RDX/NC composites. The amount of released gas can be adjusted by the RDX content in Al/Fe₂O₃/RDX/NC composite.