Reactivity tuning of metastable intermolecular composite Al/PFOA by polydopamine interfacial control

Controlling the high reactivity resulting from interfacial contact between nanoscale components poses a significant challenge. This study introduces an approach utilizing an aluminum (Al) surface-modified material to regulate the interaction between Al and perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), employing an in-situ synthesized polydopamine (PDA) interfacial layer. The optimal ratio was determined through molecular dynamics simulations. Various characterization techniques, including scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), were employed to comprehensively analyze the structure and elemental distribution of the samples. The findings indicate that the PDA coating process did not alter the surface structure of Al while maintaining the integrity of the functional groups of both PDA and PFOA. Results from simultaneous thermal analysis (TG-DSC) demonstrate that the PDA interfacial layer increased the pre-ignition reaction (PIR) peak temperature of PFOA/Al by 2 °C and enhanced the heat release of the PIR and fluorination reaction by 1.3 and 34.8 times, respectively. Thermal analysis kinetics investigation revealed a reduction of 6.66 kJ⋅mol⁻¹ in the activation energy of the fluorination reaction and an increase of 20.28 kJ⋅mol⁻¹ in the activation energy of the PIR. Furthermore, the combustion heat and reaction degree of PFOA/Al@PDA powder increased by 43.4 % and approximately 8 %, respectively, compared to PFOA/Al powder generated by physical mixing. This study demonstrated that the inclusion of PDA modifiers in the PFOA/Al system effectively controls the exothermic reaction between fuel and oxidant and enhances the oxidation degree of Al.