NICOLLET , Andréa

Energetic materials are able to generate high amount of thermal or mechanical energy in a very short time (µs) under an electrical, mechanical of thermal stimulus. Conventional materials, such as propellants or explosives, are widely used in pyrotechnic systems, but, for most of them, they can be impacted by new safety and environmental...

International audience

Traditional technologies used to manufacture current pyrotechnic switches are based on synthesis, pressing/casting and injection of macroscopic organic energetic materials (explosive or highly energetic materials), which leads to bulky and dangerous systems. We propose, instead, a nanothermite-based safety switch, which provides a compact...

Pyroswitches and circuit breakers play an important safety role in electrical systems. A miniature one-shot circuit breaker based on the violent reaction of a nanothermite is presented for safety application as protection against overcurrent, external perturbation and short circuit of a broad range of equipment and systems. This device consists...

Sputter-deposited Al/CuO multilayers are used to manufacture tunable igniters and actuators with applications in various fields of application such as defense, space and infrastructure safety. This paper describes the technology of deposition and characteristics of Al/CuO multilayers followed by some examples of applications of these energetic layers.

In the midst of a growing need for standardisation and adaptability in pyrotechnic systems, we hereby present a safe pyrotechnical infrared (IR) flare electronically controllable through an embedded miniature initiation system. The countermeasure consists of three distinct blocks: (1) a controllable pyrotechnical ejection block, made of three...

International audience

The complex Al/CuO self-propagating reaction involving multi-phase and multi-species dynamics was studied in order to investigate the very high flame temperature around the vaporization temperature of alumina, even under a neutral environment. Experiments were performed on different sputter-deposited Al/CuO multilayers coupling optical...

Electro-pyrotechnic initiators used to ignite an explosive, a propellant or any other energetic substances are widely used in many applications including micropropulsion, drug injection, Safe Arming and Firing for missiles, rockets, munitions and airbag inflation … Our research group has recently reported the integration of nanothermites within...

The ignition of Al/CuO multilayered material is studied experimentally to explore the effect of heating surface area, layering and film thickness on the ignition characteristics and reaction performances. After the description of the micro-initiator devices and ignition conditions, we show that the heating surface area has to be properly...

International audience

We report on a new strategy to synthesize Al/CuO nanothermites from commercial Al and ultra-small chemically synthesized CuO nanoparticles coated with alkylamine ligands. These usual ligands stabilize the CuO and prevent them from aggregation, with the goal to enhance the interfacial contact between Al and CuO particles. Using a variety of...

To reduce the size inconvenience of airbag systems employed in human-body protection devices while maintaining comparable gas generation performance, a new family of gas-generating energetic composites are proposed mixing Al/CuO nanothermite with copper complex (Cu(NH 3) 4 (NO 3) 2) known for its propensity to generate gases (0.03 mol/g) such...

La photocatalyse, à distinguer de la photo-électro-catalyse, permet de produire de l'hydrogène par photo-réduction de l'eau, tout en s'affranchissant de l'utilisation d'électrodes, d'un courant électrique, ou encore de l'utilisation d'un bain électrochimique. [1] Dans ce cadre, nous avons développé un dispositif de panneau solaire hydrogène...