Carbon nanotubes initiate the explosion of porous silicon

Here we show that a mixture of multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) and ferrocene doped with sodium perchlorate, as an oxidant, can be combusted using a camera flash as an initiator. We optimize the MWCNT to oxidant ratio by monitoring the intensity and spectral characteristics of the light emission In addition, we construct a novel nanostructured energetic material combining MWCNTs with porous silicon (pSi) impregnated with sodium perchlorate and show that pSi can be exploded using carbon nanotubes as photosensitive initiators. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.