nl400590k_si_001.pdf (5.08 MB)
Biologically Tunable Reactivity of Energetic Nanomaterials Using Protein Cages
journal contribution
posted on 2013-06-12, 00:00 authored by Joseph
M. Slocik, Christopher A. Crouse, Jonathan E. Spowart, Rajesh R. NaikThe performance of aluminum nanomaterial
based energetic formulations
is dependent on the mass transport, diffusion distance, and stability
of reactive components. Here we use a biologically inspired approach
to direct the assembly of oxidizer loaded protein cages onto the surface
of aluminum nanoparticles to improve reaction kinetics by reducing
the diffusion distance between the reactants. Ferritin protein cages
were loaded with ammonium perchlorate (AP) or iron oxide and assembled
with nAl to create an oxidation–reduction based energetic reaction
and the first demonstration of a nanoscale biobased thermite material.
Both materials showed enhanced exothermic behavior in comparison to
nanothermite mixtures of bulk free AP or synthesized iron oxide nanopowders
prepared without the use of ferritin. In addition, by utilizing a
layer-by-layer (LbL) process to build multiple layers of protein cages
containing iron oxide and iron oxide/AP on nAl, stoichiometric conditions
and energetic performance can be optimized.