Mathew Cherukara, MSE PhD student, was chosen for the "Best Student Presentation Award" for Symposium OO: Properties, Processing, and Applications of Reactive Materials during the MaterialsResearch Society (MRS) Fall Meeting.

Reactive intermolecular composites are an interesting class of energetic materials with a wide range ofpossible applications due to large energy density and potential for multi-functionality.Mathew's talk focused on molecular dynamics work that is providing insight into the molecular-level mechanismsthat govern the performance of Ni/Al reactive nanocomposites and providing quantitative relationships for continuum modeling. Specifically, MD enabled the quantification of the role of nanostructure on reaction rates in Ni/Al; these simulations revealed how defects provide ballistic transport avenues that fundamentally change the relationship between characteristic nanostructure lengths and reaction timescales. He also described ongoing shock loading simulations (see attached picture) to understand energy localization localization in porous reactive materials.

This work is supported by the US Defense Threat Reduction Agency. Program manager: Su Peiris.

References:

• “Amorphous Ni/Al nanoscale laminates as high-energy intermolecular reactive composites” K. Guda Vishnu, M. Cherukara, H. Kim and A. Strachan, Physical Review B, 85, 184206 (2012).

• “Role of nanostructure on reaction and transport in Ni/Al intermolecular reactive composites”, M. Cherukara, K. Guda Vishnu, A. Strachan, Physical Review B, 86, 075470 (2012)

• “Tailored Reactivity of Ni+A1 Nanocomposites: Microstructural Correlations”, K. Manukyan, A. Mason, L. Groven, Y-C Lin, M. Cherukara, S. Son, A. Strachan , A. Mukasyan, The Journal of Physical Chemistry C, 116, 21027-21038 (2012)