Energetic Materials and Combustion

Energetic materials store large amounts of chemical energy that can be released rapidly through combustion, detonation, or thermal decomposition, making them central to applications ranging from propulsion and pyrotechnics to safe demolition and defense. Researchers study how molecular architecture—crystal packing arrangements, ionic liquid formulations, and the incorporation of metal nanoparticles—determines how quickly and completely that energy releases, as well as how sensitive a material is to accidental ignition. Reactive force fields like ReaxFF allow atomistic simulations to capture bond breaking and formation during these violent, fast processes, bridging the gap between quantum chemistry and the length scales relevant to real devices. Active work focuses on designing nanoenergetic composites with tunable burn rates and on developing high-energy density ionic salts that are both powerful and thermally stable enough to handle safely.

Works

67,334

Total citations

697,952

Keywords

ReaxFFEnergetic SaltsNanoenergetic MaterialsHigh-Energy Density MaterialsMetal NanoparticlesIonic Liquids