Review of Nano-thermites; a Pathway to Enhanced Energetic Materials

Nano-thermites or metastable intermolecular composites (MICs) have been implemented into modern research on energetic materials as they offer much higher energy densities, higher rates of energy release, stability, and safety (lower sensitivity). This paper reviews several synthetic methods for MICs that have been well thought-out for energetic applications, advantages and disadvantages, as well as the characteristics of each manufacturing technique. The techniques presented include powder mixing, sol-gel, synthesis of MICs based on nano-porous silicon (Psi), sputtering, multilayer nano-foils and electrolytically plated carbon nano-materials for nano-thermite applications. These techniques offer enormously different characteristics and, through the variation of various chemical techniques and conditions, a wide range of chemical and energetic properties may be attained. This may give the opportunity for the safe use of MICs as replacements for some conventional energetic materials in various applications, and may also enable us to study the effects when incorporating these MICs into energetic matrixes, as a promising and feasible research field.