Al/SnO Nanothermite ESD Desensitization by Means of the Elaboration of Tailored SnO-Polypyrrole Composites.

Incidents can occur when handling energetic materials (EMs) due to their sensitivity to external stimuli. Mechanical (friction, impact) and electrical (electrostatic discharge (ESD)) stimuli can trigger involuntary ignition of EMs. Nanothermites, defined as highly reactive mixtures of a metal and a metal oxide, show interesting reactive properties (high temperature/amount of heat).

Room-temperature single-phase Li insertion/extraction in nanoscale Li(x)FePO4.

Classical electrodes for Li-ion technology operate by either single-phase or two-phase Li insertion/de-insertion processes, with single-phase mechanisms presenting some intrinsic advantages with respect to various storage applications. We report the feasibility to drive the well-established two-phase room-temperature insertion process in LiFePO4 electrodes into a single-phase one by modifying the material's particle size and ion ordering. Electrodes made of LiFePO4 nanoparticles (40 nm) formed by a low-temperature precipitation process exhibit sloping voltage charge/discharge curves, characteristic of a single-phase behaviour.

Preparation of explosive nanoparticles in a porous chromium(III) oxide matrix: a first attempt to control the reactivity of explosives.

This paper reports the first attempt to control the combustion and the detonation properties of a high explosive through its structure. A porous chromium(III) oxide matrix produced by the combustion of ammonium dichromate was infiltrated by hexahydro-1,3,5-trinitro-1,3,5-triazine (RDX). The structure of the Cr(2)O(3) matrix was studied by both scanning and transmission electron microscopy (SEM, TEM); the Cr(2)O(3)/RDX nanocomposites were characterized by nitrogen adsorption.