Laser ignited combustion of mesoporous nitrocellulose/graphene oxide composite aerogel with strong photo-thermal sensitivity and high flame propagation rate

In this paper, mesoporous nitrocellulose (NC)/graphene oxide (GO) composite aerogel is manufactured by a sol-gel method followed by supercritical carbon dioxide drying. The effects of GO on the microstructure, decomposition, and thermal conductivity are studied. The laser absorption, laser ignition property, and combustion performance of NC aerogel and NC/aerogel are also investigated. The results indicate that NC/GO aerogel is established by the combination of NC nano-fibers and GO sheets, and the aerogels are mesoporous with average pore size at 40 nm. Moreover, the thermal stability of aerogels is decreased by the nano-structure of NC, and the laser absorption is significantly increased by the nano-porous structure and the adoption of GO. In addition, the laser ignition and combustion efficiency are also greatly improved by the nano-porous aerogel structure and the incorporation of evenly uniformly dispersed GO sheets with high photothermal conversion efficiency and thermal conductivity. Laser ignition times reduced by 73.7% and 99.6% are obtained, and flame propagation rates up to 4.7 and 12.3 times are observed for NC aerogel and NC/5 wt. % GO aerogel, respectively.