Classifications

• • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
  • C06—EXPLOSIVES; MATCHES
  • C06B—EXPLOSIVES OR THERMIC COMPOSITIONS; MANUFACTURE THEREOF; USE OF SINGLE SUBSTANCES AS EXPLOSIVES
  • C06B33/00—Compositions containing particulate metal, alloy, boron, silicon, selenium or tellurium with at least one oxygen supplying material which is either a metal oxide or a salt, organic or inorganic, capable of yielding a metal oxide
  • C06B33/02—Compositions containing particulate metal, alloy, boron, silicon, selenium or tellurium with at least one oxygen supplying material which is either a metal oxide or a salt, organic or inorganic, capable of yielding a metal oxide with an organic non-explosive or an organic non-thermic component
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B22—CASTING; POWDER METALLURGY
  • B22F—WORKING METALLIC POWDER; MANUFACTURE OF ARTICLES FROM METALLIC POWDER; MAKING METALLIC POWDER; APPARATUS OR DEVICES SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR METALLIC POWDER
  • B22F9/00—Making metallic powder or suspensions thereof
  • B22F9/02—Making metallic powder or suspensions thereof using physical processes
  • B22F9/026—Spray drying of solutions or suspensions
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B22—CASTING; POWDER METALLURGY
  • B22F—WORKING METALLIC POWDER; MANUFACTURE OF ARTICLES FROM METALLIC POWDER; MAKING METALLIC POWDER; APPARATUS OR DEVICES SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR METALLIC POWDER
  • B22F1/00—Metallic powder; Treatment of metallic powder, e.g. to facilitate working or to improve properties
  • B22F1/05—Metallic powder characterised by the size or surface area of the particles
  • B22F1/054—Nanosized particles
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B22—CASTING; POWDER METALLURGY
  • B22F—WORKING METALLIC POWDER; MANUFACTURE OF ARTICLES FROM METALLIC POWDER; MAKING METALLIC POWDER; APPARATUS OR DEVICES SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR METALLIC POWDER
  • B22F1/00—Metallic powder; Treatment of metallic powder, e.g. to facilitate working or to improve properties
  • B22F1/10—Metallic powder containing lubricating or binding agents; Metallic powder containing organic material
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B22—CASTING; POWDER METALLURGY
  • B22F—WORKING METALLIC POWDER; MANUFACTURE OF ARTICLES FROM METALLIC POWDER; MAKING METALLIC POWDER; APPARATUS OR DEVICES SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR METALLIC POWDER
  • B22F1/00—Metallic powder; Treatment of metallic powder, e.g. to facilitate working or to improve properties
  • B22F1/14—Treatment of metallic powder
  • B22F1/148—Agglomerating
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B22—CASTING; POWDER METALLURGY
  • B22F—WORKING METALLIC POWDER; MANUFACTURE OF ARTICLES FROM METALLIC POWDER; MAKING METALLIC POWDER; APPARATUS OR DEVICES SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR METALLIC POWDER
  • B22F9/00—Making metallic powder or suspensions thereof
  • B22F9/02—Making metallic powder or suspensions thereof using physical processes
  • B22F9/06—Making metallic powder or suspensions thereof using physical processes starting from liquid material
  • B22F9/08—Making metallic powder or suspensions thereof using physical processes starting from liquid material by casting, e.g. through sieves or in water, by atomising or spraying
  • B22F9/082—Making metallic powder or suspensions thereof using physical processes starting from liquid material by casting, e.g. through sieves or in water, by atomising or spraying atomising using a fluid
• • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
  • C06—EXPLOSIVES; MATCHES
  • C06B—EXPLOSIVES OR THERMIC COMPOSITIONS; MANUFACTURE THEREOF; USE OF SINGLE SUBSTANCES AS EXPLOSIVES
  • C06B21/00—Apparatus or methods for working-up explosives, e.g. forming, cutting, drying
  • C06B21/0008—Compounding the ingredient
  • C06B21/0025—Compounding the ingredient the ingredient being a polymer bonded explosive or thermic component
• • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
  • C06—EXPLOSIVES; MATCHES
  • C06B—EXPLOSIVES OR THERMIC COMPOSITIONS; MANUFACTURE THEREOF; USE OF SINGLE SUBSTANCES AS EXPLOSIVES
  • C06B21/00—Apparatus or methods for working-up explosives, e.g. forming, cutting, drying
  • C06B21/0033—Shaping the mixture
  • C06B21/0066—Shaping the mixture by granulation, e.g. flaking
• • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
  • C22—METALLURGY; FERROUS OR NON-FERROUS ALLOYS; TREATMENT OF ALLOYS OR NON-FERROUS METALS
  • C22C—ALLOYS
  • C22C1/00—Making non-ferrous alloys
  • C22C1/04—Making non-ferrous alloys by powder metallurgy
  • C22C1/0408—Light metal alloys
  • C22C1/0416—Aluminium-based alloys
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B22—CASTING; POWDER METALLURGY
  • B22F—WORKING METALLIC POWDER; MANUFACTURE OF ARTICLES FROM METALLIC POWDER; MAKING METALLIC POWDER; APPARATUS OR DEVICES SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR METALLIC POWDER
  • B22F1/00—Metallic powder; Treatment of metallic powder, e.g. to facilitate working or to improve properties
  • B22F1/05—Metallic powder characterised by the size or surface area of the particles
  • B22F1/054—Nanosized particles
  • B22F1/0545—Dispersions or suspensions of nanosized particles
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B22—CASTING; POWDER METALLURGY
  • B22F—WORKING METALLIC POWDER; MANUFACTURE OF ARTICLES FROM METALLIC POWDER; MAKING METALLIC POWDER; APPARATUS OR DEVICES SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR METALLIC POWDER
  • B22F1/00—Metallic powder; Treatment of metallic powder, e.g. to facilitate working or to improve properties
  • B22F1/10—Metallic powder containing lubricating or binding agents; Metallic powder containing organic material
  • B22F1/107—Metallic powder containing lubricating or binding agents; Metallic powder containing organic material containing organic material comprising solvents, e.g. for slip casting
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B22—CASTING; POWDER METALLURGY
  • B22F—WORKING METALLIC POWDER; MANUFACTURE OF ARTICLES FROM METALLIC POWDER; MAKING METALLIC POWDER; APPARATUS OR DEVICES SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR METALLIC POWDER
  • B22F9/00—Making metallic powder or suspensions thereof
  • B22F9/02—Making metallic powder or suspensions thereof using physical processes
  • B22F9/06—Making metallic powder or suspensions thereof using physical processes starting from liquid material
  • B22F9/08—Making metallic powder or suspensions thereof using physical processes starting from liquid material by casting, e.g. through sieves or in water, by atomising or spraying
  • B22F9/082—Making metallic powder or suspensions thereof using physical processes starting from liquid material by casting, e.g. through sieves or in water, by atomising or spraying atomising using a fluid
  • B22F2009/0836—Making metallic powder or suspensions thereof using physical processes starting from liquid material by casting, e.g. through sieves or in water, by atomising or spraying atomising using a fluid with electric or magnetic field or induction
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B22—CASTING; POWDER METALLURGY
  • B22F—WORKING METALLIC POWDER; MANUFACTURE OF ARTICLES FROM METALLIC POWDER; MAKING METALLIC POWDER; APPARATUS OR DEVICES SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR METALLIC POWDER
  • B22F2301/00—Metallic composition of the powder or its coating
  • B22F2301/05—Light metals
  • B22F2301/052—Aluminium
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B22—CASTING; POWDER METALLURGY
  • B22F—WORKING METALLIC POWDER; MANUFACTURE OF ARTICLES FROM METALLIC POWDER; MAKING METALLIC POWDER; APPARATUS OR DEVICES SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR METALLIC POWDER
  • B22F2304/00—Physical aspects of the powder
  • B22F2304/05—Submicron size particles

Definitions

• a solid rocket motor or composite propellant rocket motor is a propulsion system with a motor that uses solid propellants comprising a fuel, an oxidizer, and a polymer binder material.
• the solid propellant is normally in the form of a propellant grain located within the interior of the rocket motor pressure vessel, or combustion chamber, and burned to produce hot gases which, in turn, exit through the throat and expansion nozzle of the rocket motor at high velocity to provide thrust which propels the rocket in the opposite direction.
• Powdered aluminum metal is commonly used in solid propellant formulations to increase energy density and specific impulse. Certain explosives formulations contain aluminum powder, which burns during the explosion and contributes to secondary blast effects.
• Ultrafine or nanoparticulate aluminum has the potential to increase combustion rates due to its much higher surface-to-volume ratio.
• these aluminum materials suffer from difficulties of manufacture, safety hazards, and increasing amount of aluminum oxide content as the particle size decreases.
• Al strongly exothermic aluminum
• AI2O3 aluminum oxide
• powdered aluminum has long found use in energetic materials including solid propellants. The rate of reaction is proportional to the surface area available for oxidation, and thus there is significant interest in the use of nanoscale Al powders in energetic materials.
• Commercial ultrafine Al powders are typically produced by electro-explosion of aluminum wire, or by plasma synthesis methods.
• Marks uses terms such as “homogeneous” and “well dispersed” in describing the dispersion of aluminum nanoparticles in their disclosed composite but does not disclose a composition of dispersed primary nanoparticles of aluminum. This fact is made clear in Figure 14 in Marks, in which the aluminumpolypropylene composites are imaged by transmission electron microscopy. In these images, aggregates and/or agglomerates of the aluminum particles are clearly visible as dark regions within the polymer. Therefore, Marks does not overcome the shortcomings of the prior art.
• Polymer binders and other ingredients have been combined with the aluminum nanoparticles during the controlled agglomeration process to produce powders of composite compositions.
• these methods in the prior art include H. Wang, G. Jian, S. Yan, J. B. DeLisio, C. Huang, and M. R. Zachariah, ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces, 2013, 5, 6797-6801, and R. J. Jacob, B. Wei, M. R. Zachariah, Combustion and Flame, 2016, 167, 472-480.
• aluminum nanopowder inherently consists of agglomerates of aluminum nanoparticles, and the agglomerates cannot be broken up and dispersed into unagglomerated primary nanoparticles.
• the formation of these agglomerated nanoparticles into larger, micrometer-sized secondary agglomerates inherently creates a porous material because the individual primary nanoparticles are not freely mobile (being strongly attached to neighboring particles) and therefore cannot rearrange themselves into a closely packed, densified structure during the formation of the larger micrometer-sized secondary agglomerates (for example, during the electrospray process).
• Non- porous, micrometer-sized agglomerates of primary aluminum nanoparticles, and methods to produce such powders would have significant advantages over the prior art.
• Another disadvantage of these examples is that the aluminum nanopowder used as starting materials contains only around 70% active aluminum (meaning aluminum in its metallic form) due to the presence of the native oxide coating on the particles. Compositions with higher active aluminum content, and methods to produce such compositions, would be advantageous over the prior art.
• Reid does not teach powder compositions or methods for producing powders. Reid teaches non-powder solids and describes their applications as binders in solid fuels, propellants, and explosives. Reid also teaches liquid fuels. Many energetic formulations require components (sometimes called ingredients) that are used in powder form during energetic manufacturing processes such as explosive or propellant mixing, and are present in the resulting energetic composition in the form of a powder that is surrounded by a binder and/or intermixed with other powders.
• FIG. lb is an SEM image showing the finer structure of the secondary particles constructed in accordance with the invention, in which the primary nanoparticles are visible;
• FIG. 1c is a drawing depicting the nanometric structure seen in Fig lb, with primary nanoparticles of aluminum separated from each other by an intervening organic or polymer material;
• a powder is differentiated from a continuous solid by a few characteristics.
• One characteristic is the size of the particles of the powder, which is generally from a few millimeters (coarse powder) to sub-micrometer (fine powder) in size.
• Another characteristic is that, when placed in a container, the powder will move or flow when the container is tilted and can be poured out of the container.
• a third characteristic is present when the powder is incorporated into a larger material formulation, in which it is common for the particles of powder to be dispersed as discrete particles within a continuous phase or binder.
• common terminology refers to powders as fillers or solids, and the continuous phase in which the powder is dispersed as a binder or matrix.
• each of these embodiments is a composition that includes unagglomerated primary nanoparticles of aluminum or aluminum oxide, which are separated from one another by at least one type of polymeric or organic material.
• the unaggregated and unagglomerated nature of the primary nanoparticles in the composite powder’s secondary particles is responsible for the favorable properties of the material.
• the ratios of reaction ingredients is such that aluminum constitutes a majority of the total mass of the composition except for the solvent. Less than majority aluminum compositions may also be used, if the application warrants a lower aluminum content, and if the composition creates a material with a predominantly solid characteristic, so that it can be formed into a powder.
• the formation of a powder with the characteristics described in this invention is one aspect that differentiates the present invention from the prior art.
• a significant discovery by the current inventors was that the described precursor solution is capable of forming powders that have desirable characteristics such as having little or no internal void space (i.e. having full or nearly full density).
• the solvent removal step is typically performed by evaporation. If the absence of aluminum oxide is desired, the evaporation can be performed in an air and water-free environment, such as a container or chamber filled with inert gas. Solvent evaporation may be performed using a wide range of techniques.
• One particularly suitable evaporation technique is spray drying. This technique feeds the precursor solution through a nozzle, which sprays warm droplets of the solution into an evaporation chamber.

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• Chemical & Material Sciences (AREA)
• Organic Chemistry (AREA)
• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Materials Engineering (AREA)
• Metallurgy (AREA)
• Inorganic Chemistry (AREA)
• Nanotechnology (AREA)
• Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
• Compounds Of Alkaline-Earth Elements, Aluminum Or Rare-Earth Metals (AREA)
• Compositions Of Macromolecular Compounds (AREA)
• Processes Of Treating Macromolecular Substances (AREA)

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• 2023
  • 2023-05-26 US US18/868,075 patent/US20250162959A1/en active Pending
  • 2023-05-26 AU AU2023297774A patent/AU2023297774A1/en active Pending
  • 2023-05-26 WO PCT/US2023/023668 patent/WO2024006012A2/en not_active Ceased
  • 2023-05-26 EP EP23832109.5A patent/EP4532448A2/de active Pending
  • 2023-05-26 CA CA3255971A patent/CA3255971A1/en active Pending

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