Measurement of the Heat of Reaction of Polytetrafluoroethylene/Aluminum Composites Based on Laser Initiation

Polytetrafluoroethylene/aluminum (PTFE/Al) composites are reactive materials which can release energy due to exothermic chemical reactions initiated under shock loading conditions. In order to accurately measure the potential maximum heat of reaction of PTFE/Al composites in an inert atmosphere, we propose in this paper a heat of reaction measurement system based on laser initiation. Our results show that the measurement system successfully initiates the chemical reaction between PTFE and Al in an argon atmosphere. The comparison between theoretical calculations and experimental data demonstrates that our measurement method is highly accurate and exhibits excellent consistency. Thus, the heat of reaction measurement system based on laser initiation is applicable for measuring the heat of reaction of PTFE/Al composites and also other complicated reactive materials.