Facile, High Throughput Aerosol Production of Oxidizer Particles

The Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) has been supporting research of energetic materials and incendiaries as payloads for weapons to defeat targets containing chemical and biological agents. Several universities and Navy labs have been involved in this research, and have narrowed down on a few material formulations that are efficient biocides. These formulations contain a chemical ingredient HI3O8, which is currently commercially obtained as HIO3 and processed at gram-scales in a Navy lab. While the process path is not complicated, larger-scale production at a Navy lab is not cost beneficial nor process efficient for larger scale needs. Researchers at Luna Innovations in collaboration with the University of Maryland have identified a facile approach for improvement of the current HI3O8 particle production process that includes both higher throughput and enhanced control of particle size distribution. Lunas team with professor Michael Zachariah and his group proposes to modify a high temperature aerosol process in combination with the use of inline spray drying equipment to dramatically improve the mass throughput to over 1000 grams/hour. Lunas team will produce high purity HI3O8 microparticles (1-2 microns) and demonstrate scalbility for multi-pound production and beyond.