Stress-Alteration Enhancement of the Reactivity of Aluminum Nanoparticles in the Catalytic Decomposition of exo-Tetrahydrodicyclopentadiene (JP-10)

High-energy-density aluminum nanoparticles (AlNPs) upon thermal annealing followed by superquenching result in elevated stress levels in the metallic core and reduced surface energy at the core-shell interface. Isomer-selective vacuum ultraviolet-based photoionization mass spectrometry coupled to a high-temperature chemical microreactor reveals that these stress-altered AlNPs (SA-AlNPs) exhibit distinctive temperature-dependent reactivities toward catalytic decomposition of the hydrocarbon jet fuel