Tuesday publication post! 📖 In this publication, authors used the #AtmosphereAX to investigate the oxidation kinetics of aluminum nanoparticles from 25 to 1000 °C. The study reveals how diffusion-controlled oxidation mechanisms drive nanoscale structural transformations.
Key highlights:
🔬 The Atmosphere AX system enabled real-time visualization of nanoparticle oxidation dynamics under reactive gas environments. This revealed a three-stage oxidation pathway from room temperature to 1000 °C with distinct temperature-dependent reaction mechanisms
💠 Low-temperature oxidation (∼600–800 °C) is governed by oxygen diffusion through the alumina shell, resulting in irregular particle expansion
🔥 High-temperature oxidation (∼800–1000 °C) is dominated by outward Al diffusion through the alumina shell, ultimately producing hollow particles
📈 Quantitative temporal imaging enabled extraction of reaction flux and diffusivity, revealing a strong dependence of measured diffusivity on heating rate and helping explain disparities reported throughout the literature
This work highlights nanoscale oxidation behavior by directly connecting thermal conditions, diffusion kinetics, and particle morphology evolution. These findings provide valuable insight for energetic materials research, oxidation modeling, and the development of thermally robust nanomaterials.
Want to read the entire work? Find it here!
https://www.doi.org/10.1021/acs.jpcc.5c06533
Want to know more about the Atmosphere AX system?
https://www.protochips.com/solutions/in-situ-tem-solutions/in-situ-gas-cell/
