Energetic composites

• US 5,266,132 A
• Filed: 10/08/1991
• Issued: 11/30/1993
• Est. Priority Date: 10/08/1991
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Government of The United States As Represented by The Department of Energy
• Original Assignee: United States Department of Energy
• Inventors: Danen, Wayne C., Martin, Joe A.
• Primary Examiner(s): Miller, Edward A.
• Application Number:
  US07/774,961
• Time in Patent Office: 784 Days
• Field of Search: 149/15, 149/37
• US Class Current: 149/15
• CPC Class Codes: C06B 45/12 having contiguous layers or zones
• CPC Class Codes: C23C 14/081 of aluminium, magnesium or beryllium
• CPC Class Codes: C23C 14/087 of copper or solid solutions thereof
• CPC Class Codes: C23C 14/14 Metallic material, boron or silicon
• CPC Class Codes: C23C 30/00 Coating with metallic material characterised only by the composition of the metallic material, i.e. not characterised by the coating process C23C26/00, C23C28/00 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: F24V 30/00 Apparatus or devices using heat produced by exothermal chemical reactions other than combustion

Abstract

A method for providing chemical energy and energetic compositions of matter consisting of thin layers of substances which will exothermically react with one another. The layers of reactive substances are separated by thin layers of a buffer material which prevents the reactions from taking place until the desired time. The reactions are triggered by an external agent, such as mechanical stress or an electric spark. The compositions are known as metastable interstitial composites (MICs). This class of compositions includes materials which have not previously been capable of use as energetic materials. The speed and products of the reactions can be varied to suit the application.

Claims

1. A composition consisting of layers of two reactive substances, which are aluminum and cupric oxide, and of a buffer material, where said layers are formed by thin film deposition, where each layer has a thickness of from about 10 to about 10,000 angstroms, where each layer of aluminum is separated from at least one layer of cupric oxide by a layer of buffer material, where each aluminum layer is prevented from exothermically reacting with a cupric oxide layer by the buffer layer separating them and reaction will occur upon disruption of the buffer layer, where each buffer layer is comprised of aluminum oxide and copper, and where each buffer layer is formed by means of reaction of aluminum and cupric oxide during deposition and the rate of deposition while a buffer layer is being formed is maintained at a sufficiently low value to avoid damaging previously deposited layers.