Ilunga, K.Del Fabbro, OlintoYapi, L.Focke, Walter Wilhelm2011-02-182011-02-182011-01Ilunga, K, Del Fabbro, O, Yapi, L & Focke, WW 2011, 'The effect of Si-Bi2O3 on the ignition of the Al-CuO thermite', Powder Technology, vol. 205, no. 1-3, pp. 97-102. [http://www.elsevier.com/locate/powtec]0032-591010.1016/j.powtec.2010.08.071http://hdl.handle.net/2263/15875The ignition temperature of the Al–CuO thermite was measured using DTA at a scan rate of 50 °C min−1 in a nitrogen atmosphere. Thermite reactions are difficult to start as they require very high temperatures for ignition, e.g. for Al–CuO thermite comprising micron particles it is ca. 940 °C. Itwas found that the ignition temperature is significantly reduced when the binary Si–Bi2O3 system is added as sensitizer. Further improvement is achieved when the reagents are nano-sized powders. For the composition Al+CuO+Si+Bi2O3 (65.3:14.7:16:4 wt.%), with all components nano-sized, the observed ignition temperature is ca. 613 °C and a thermal runaway reaction is observed in the DTA.en© 2010 Elsevier B.V.PyrotechnicsThermiteIgnition temperatureNanoparticlesNanochemistryMetal powdersNanosiliconBismuth trioxideAluminum-copper alloys -- Thermal propertiesNanoparticlesPostprint Article