Enhanced reactivity of copper complex-based reactive materials via mechanical milling

A prior investigation by the authors demonstrated that incorporating 25% of copper complex (Cu(NH3)4(NO3)2) into Al/CuO nanothermite enables to produce highly-reactive gas-generating energetic composites for emerging micro-airbag applications. To further improve decomposition gaseous species (N2, O2, N2O), during thermite reaction, we employed ball milling technique diminish its grain size down nanoscale. Results show premilling i.e. refining grains without much modifying their structures, increases pressure generation and burn rate a factor 1.5 2, respectively. It also maintains high degree performances along with wider range mass ratio.