Apparently FMC Lithium manufacture a stabilised lithium powder product called Lectro max powder 100. It's a fine lithium powder that is air stable and
relatively safe to handle.
I think it's passivated with a surface film of lithium carbonate and oleate because the MSDS says it contains a small amount of each
Anyhow, I hope stabilised lithium powders become mainstream soon because I think it would open up a wealth of possibilities
Sounds fun, but it really won't be very fast/reactive/explosive, formation of lithium oxide isn't nearly as energetic as the formation of Al/Mg oxide.
Chlorothermal "thermite" reactions with Li would probably be much faster - "Fluorothemal" thermite reactions indeed would be scary.
Li-F+ is one of the strongest bonds there are.
[Edited on 4-5-2014 by Zyklonb]deltaH - 4-5-2014 at 13:26
Quote:
but it really won't be very fast/reactive/explosive, formation of lithium oxide isn't nearly as energetic as the formation of Al/Mg oxide.
Are you sure about that? I calculate for an aluminium|ferric oxide thermite, a heat of reaction of 4MJ/kg of thermite mix, while for a lithium|ferric
oxide thermite, I calculate 4.8MJ/kg of thermite mix.
Plus lithium vaporises at 1330°C, so it can advance rapidly through unignited thermite.
Put these together and I would guess that lithium thermites would be vicious and explosive if confined?
[Edited on 4-5-2014 by deltaH]Zyklon-A - 4-5-2014 at 13:31
Really? I guess I should have calculated it rather than assumed. I must have been thing about sodium...
