Abstract
The use of binary inorganic solid-state fuel/oxidant redox processes typified by the classic aluminum/iron(III) oxide thermite reaction in combination with traditional energetic materials such as 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene (TNT), hexahydro-1,3,5-trinitro-1,3,5-triazine (RDX), and octahydro-1,3,5,7-tetranitro-1,3,5,7-tetrazocine (HMX) has been of interest in order to produce higher output explosives. This dissertation focuses on the stability and degradation processes that occur with the combination of binary inorganic fuel/oxidant systems with high energy materials. First is a discussion on the stability of 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene (TNT) as well as pentaerythritol tetranitrate (PETN) deposited onto the surface of metal oxides through a wet impregnation technique, which is followed by a discussion of the study of the initiation processes of the aluminum/iron(III) oxide thermite reaction using laser induced desorption-ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry. Finally, the photo-thermal initiation of an aluminum/iron(III) oxide thermite with PETN deposited on the surface of the iron(III) oxide in increasing increments was studied using a single pulse of a Nd:YAG laser at differing wavelengths in order to understand the effects of the presence of PETN on the time to initiation, as well as the deflagration duration of the thermite reaction.
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