Thermal behavior of Al/MoO3 xerogel nanocomposites

Sol–gel process using molybdenum alkoxides was employed to prepare Al/MoO3 xerogel nanocomposites as a thermite with better performance by improvement of interfacial contact area between the oxidizer and fuel. Micromorphology and thermite reaction characteristics of Al/MoO3 xerogel nanocomposites were analyzed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and thermogravimetry/differential scanning calorimetry (TG/DSC), respectively. In the present Al/MoO3 xerogel system, it was found that exothermic enthalpy increases as the Al/Mo mole ratio increases and then decreases when Al/Mo mole ratio is larger than 6 indicating that optimum mole ratio of Al/Mo is 6 with reaction enthalpy of 420.58 J/g.