Preparation and characterization of Co₃O₄/Al core-shell nanoenergetic materials and their application in energetic semiconductor bridges

School of Chemical Engineering, Nanjing University of Science and Technology, 210094 Nanjing P.R. China

^a e-mail: rqshen@njust.edu.cn

Received: 1 April 2015
Revised: 3 July 2015
Accepted: 15 September 2015
Published online: 1 December 2015

Abstract

Co₃O₄ nanorods were synthesized onto silicon substrates successfully by an ammonia-evaporation-induced method. Then Al was deposited on the synthesized Co₃O₄ samples by magnetron sputtering. The prepared Al/Co₃O₄ nanorods were characterized by field emission scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction and fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. It was found that Co₃O₄ nanorods grow vertically and compactly on silicon substrates with a diameter of ~400 nm. Nano-Al coated the outside of the Co₃O₄ nanorods to form a kind of core-shell nanostructure. Based on the differential scan thermal analysis, the optimal thickness of Al deposited on the Co₃O₄ was 5 µm under experimental condition with a maximal exothermic heat of 2254 J/g. A kind of initiator was realized by integrating Al/Co₃O₄ with a semiconductor bridge (SCB) and its firing performance was tested. The discharge voltage threshold for the initiator was 45 V and its critical initiation energy varied from 8.30 mJ to 9.10 mJ. The combustion flame duration of the initiator was 180 µs which was 80 µs longer than that of ordinary SCB.