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The synergy of polyvinylidene fluoride and CuO to enhance the combustion of boron powder

  • Energy materials
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Abstract

Boron (B) powder is considered to be an excellent fuel for propulsion applications due to its remarkable energy density. However, B is severely affected by boron oxide (B2O3) on its surface. To solve this problem, polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) and copper oxide (CuO) coatings were applied onto B particles, leveraging their synergistic effects to enhance the ignition and combustion performance (ICP) of B. Various characterization methods and CO2 laser ignition experiments were used to determine how PVDF and CuO impact B combustion. PVDF and CuO are helpful to improve the ICP of B. Especially for the (B/CuO4)@PVDF16 sample, it exhibits 28.2% higher combustion heat, 46.4% shorter ignition delay, and flame expansion rate (FER) increases from 0.091 to 0.280 m s−1 versus unmodified B. Furthermore, PVDF suppresses B powder agglomeration during combustion. The present work provides a new idea for improving the combustion of B powder.

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Acknowledgements

We greatly appreciate the financial support provided by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 52376093) and the Qing Lan Project of Jiangsu Province (2023).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Petroleum and Natural Gas Engineering, Changzhou University, Changzhou, 213164, Jiangsu, PR China

    Naiqiang Huang, Baozhong Zhu, Tianyu Yang, Jiuyu Chen & Yunlan Sun

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  1. Naiqiang Huang
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  2. Baozhong Zhu
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  3. Tianyu Yang
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Contributions

Naiqiang Huang contributed to data curation, formal analysis, investigation, writing—original draft & revised. Baozhong Zhu contributed to resources, project administration, funding acquisition. Tianyu Yang contributed to formal analysis and investigation. Jiuyu Chen contributed to resources and investigation. Yunlan Sun contributed to resources, project administration, funding acquisition, and writing—review & editing.

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Correspondence to Yunlan Sun.

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Huang, N., Zhu, B., Yang, T. et al. The synergy of polyvinylidene fluoride and CuO to enhance the combustion of boron powder. J Mater Sci (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10853-024-10203-8

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