Electrostatic Discharge Sensitivity and Resistivity Measurements of Al Nanothermites and Their Fuel and Oxidant Precursors

The sensitivity of nanothermites to electrostatic discharge (ESD) has been noted by many authors. In the present work, nanothermites have been prepared using aluminium fuels with oxide (O-Al), palmitic acid (L-Al) and Viton (V-Al) passivation and CuO, Fe2O3 and MoO3 oxidants, as well as binary oxidant mixtures. Fuel- and oxidant-based ESD sensitivity trends of O-Al ≈ L-Al >> V-Al and MoO3 >> CuO ≈ Fe2O3 were observed with binary oxidants affording intermediate sensitivities. In the majority of cases, with the exception of high proportions of MoO3 oxidant, nanothermites containing V-Al fuel were the least sensitive to ESD at > 0.156 J. Resistivity measurements have been made for the fuels and oxidants and follow the trends V-Al >> O-Al ≈ L-Al and MoO3 >> Fe2O3 > CuO. V-Al resistivity of ca. 1011 Ω·cm exceeds that of the oxidants studied. An ESD sensitivity trend, based on a reduced proportion of spark current carried by the aluminium fuel, is proposed and was consistent with the observed ESD and resistivity data.