Aluminum nanoparticles (Al NPs) have many diverse applications, some of which are small-scale H2 production and high-density energy storage. Some interesting photoinduced reactions previously reported for nanoparticles include electron transfer, aggregate formation and disassembly, crystal growth and shape transformation, and conductance modulation. We report here on a new photoreactive process for Al NPs. Al NPs were capped with poly(methylmethacrylate) (PMMA) and had demonstrated air stability of 2 months. When Al NPs capped with PMMA are exposed to UV radiation the PMMA cap is degraded leaving the metal core. The exposed metal core has been shown to react much faster with alkaline solution than with PMMA-coated Al NPs. ATR-FTIR was used to confirm the photodegradation of PMMA. We also present findings from powder x-ray diffraction (PXRD), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) before and after photoactivation.

Core-shell reactive aluminum nanoparticles with a photodegradable polymer shell

247th National Meeting (2014)

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