Development of Objective Go/No-Go Criteria for Determining the Electrostatic Sensitivity of Novel Metal Additives

Diagnostic instruments such as high-speed cameras and photodiodes were added to an electrostatic discharge (ESD) device. In addition to the integrated infrared emission from the combusting particles, the aluminum monoxide emission from reacting aluminum samples was recorded for each discharge event. The capacitance and voltage settings were selected to minimize electronic noise in the diagnostic equipment. The ESD energy was varied to determine the minimum ignition energy (i.e., electrostatic sensitivity) of two exemplar modified aluminum nanoparticle samples. This data was used to select objective criteria for determining whether each discharge event successfully ignited the sample (go) or not (no go). The use of objective criteria based on amplified detectors rather than visual observation of combustion subject to operator interpretation will enable the determination of the electrostatic sensitivity of novel reactive materials under development using small quantities of the powdered samples. Thus, the electrostatic properties of the materials can be tailored to meet military specifications early on in the development process, prior to scale-up and formulation for large-scale testing.