Sciencemadness Discussion Board

ANNMAl, Al + Bi2O3 Nanopowders

malford - 17-6-2013 at 20:28

I have been reading this site for sometime, but have now decided to post. I am looking for an energetic composition that can be made without any synthesis, but simply from commercially available chemicals. I would like it to have an indefinite shelf life when stored in proper conditions.

I am, at this point, interested in ANNMAl. Anecdotally, it seems to be one of the most powerful compositions that meets my aforementioned criteria.

What is the difference between activated ANNMAl and non-activated? How is activation achieved? No website on the entire internet, according to Google, contains the phrase "activating annmal."

Is there a good specific source for techniques of and precautions during the preparation of ANNMAl? I am unfamiliar with how the NM is introduced to the powders.

What is, how does one prepare, and what are the advantages of, if any, "gelled" ANNMAl?

I read a paper titled "Nanoenergetic Gas-Generators: Principles and Applications." In this paper, Bi2O3 was shown to be a highly energetic oxidizer of Al using nanopowders. Us-nano.com sells Al down to 18nm and Bi2O3 80-200nm. Has anyone here researched this composition?

Would ANNMAl be more powerful using nano Al?

[Edited on 18-6-2013 by malford]

Ral123 - 17-6-2013 at 21:01

I guess the best way to be sure about the shelf life is AN/NM/sugar.

malford - 17-6-2013 at 21:07

Quote: Originally posted by Ral123  
I guess the best way to be sure about the shelf life is AN/NM/sugar.


This composition has the requisite shelf life? Do you know the VoD of this composition? Thank you for your response.

Dornier 335A - 17-6-2013 at 22:57

Activating AN is done by wetting it a little and drying it again. This creates a more porous structure which absorbs the liquid fuel better.

I did some calculations with ANNM, ANNM+sugar and ANNMAl. ANNM has the highest VoD, a bit over 6000 m/s at 1.3 g/cm3. ANNMAl has slightly lower VoD but much higher strength thanks to the aluminium content.

Nano Al would in theory be better as more can react closer to the shock front. But finer powders also contain more aluminium oxide so the performance would decrease again after a certain particle size.

Fantasma4500 - 18-6-2013 at 04:59

you could try to use aluminium black 000 in which contains carbon and thereby its more likely to have less aluminium oxide content

aluminium also increases the overall heat by ALOT, and as heat increases gas volume expands and yea.. its good to add aluminium in short

this guy has a few vids on ANNMAl, some where its tested against trees incase you were wondering how much to use for such..
http://www.youtube.com/user/PyroTech1996/videos

unactivated ANNMAl might have a lower density and might thereby be easier to set off if a booster is used to gain sufficient energy to start the bigger charge, IIRC ANFO is nearly impossible to set off if its activated

also Fe2O3 and CuO can be used pretty well to catalyze ammonal mixtures, theres a thread on energetics where AN and CuO is heated together to form anhydrous TACN and some other stuff, if this is combined with NM and Al i think you would be pretty well going

also to get back on how this ammonal type is initiated, that fairly simple. you detonate it.
you can look up ''explosive train''
as you might see for ammonal mixtures theres usually used a booster, and the videos where ANNMAl he uses small amount of primary, which then goes to ETN as booster which is easy to initiate and very strong, tho you can remove the first part of the explosives train if you understand the properties of certain secondaries

malford - 19-6-2013 at 05:58

Quote: Originally posted by Dornier 335A  
Activating AN is done by wetting it a little and drying it again. This creates a more porous structure which absorbs the liquid fuel better.

So it is wetted and stirred with H20 to a paste-like consistency, then allowed to dry?

How is the NM introduced? Simply stirred in and then sealed to prevent evaporation prior to detonation?
Quote: Originally posted by Antiswat  

also Fe2O3 and CuO can be used pretty well to catalyze ammonal mixtures, theres a thread on energetics where AN and CuO is heated together to form anhydrous TACN and some other stuff, if this is combined with NM and Al i think you would be pretty well going

also to get back on how this ammonal type is initiated, that fairly simple. you detonate it.
you can look up ''explosive train''
as you might see for ammonal mixtures theres usually used a booster, and the videos where ANNMAl he uses small amount of primary, which then goes to ETN as booster which is easy to initiate and very strong, tho you can remove the first part of the explosives train if you understand the properties of certain secondaries


Thanks. Is there a simpler explosive that can be used to detonate ANNMAl? I'd prefer to not synthesize anything, unless the synthesis is simple, safe, and the product of it will not decompose or otherwise become unstable. So, what is the simplest material that can be used to detonate? Would flashpowder be sufficient?

Finnnicus - 19-6-2013 at 06:12

Some flashpowders, yes.

Sorry, that was a very vague and stupid reply.
They may have to be confined quite well.
Heres what I found:

Potassium Perchlorate - 25%
Copper Oxide - 21%
Magnalium - 50%
Sulphur - 10%

By weight. This seems inadvisable for storage.

[Edited on 19-6-2013 by Finnnicus]

malford - 19-6-2013 at 17:36

Quote: Originally posted by Finnnicus  
Some flashpowders, yes.

Sorry, that was a very vague and stupid reply.
They may have to be confined quite well.
Heres what I found:

Potassium Perchlorate - 25%
Copper Oxide - 21%
Magnalium - 50%
Sulphur - 10%

By weight. This seems inadvisable for storage.

[Edited on 19-6-2013 by Finnnicus]


They may have to be confined quite well, referring to the ANNMAl? I am under the impression that confinement and pressure allow for easier detonation. Is that correct?

Also, was your composition listed for the detonator?

Thank you for the reply!

Finnnicus - 19-6-2013 at 18:28

ANNMAL does not need to be that we'll confined.

Yes, that is the comp for a flash powder that quite easily detonates. If you want that to happen, you will need to engineer quite good confinement. Ask someone that isn't me.

Fantasma4500 - 22-6-2013 at 11:55

i doubt you can put any ammonal type to full det. with flashpowder, and i have been through it..
if you want full det. then you need to do some work first

KMnO4 MgAl sentisized with charcoal and iron oxide sealed in an aluminium tube very tightly might be possible to give the strongest blast
but then you might want to seek cover due to obvious reason (:

malford - 22-6-2013 at 13:30

Antiswat,

Through websites such as mcmaster.com, one can cheaply acquire 1/4" OD tubing and compression fitting caps that have a working limit of 10k PSI. Filling that with the strongest flashpowder that can be made I believe is worth a try. Steel is strongest and cheapest, so I would use that and coat its interior with something anti-corrosive.

NeonPulse - 29-6-2013 at 17:27

I think for best results you will probably have to consider a primary. I also get pretty good results from very fine powdered AN and very dry too.I probably would not store it mixed though some people have. If you do just make sure its airtight and not in copper.