Thermite Reactions within Liquid Gallium/Iron Oxide Supraparticles Triggered Via Induction Heating

Thermite reactions are well-known for mixtures of aluminum and iron oxide. However, other reactive metals, such as gallium, were not studied in this application, and the use of induction as an external trigger for the thermite reaction has not been established. In this work, supraparticles of gallium and iron oxide nanoparticles were synthesized to combine a low melting point with inductive heating properties. The enabled thermite-like redox reactions generate temperatures up to 900 °C within seconds in an alternating magnetic field, tunable by the material’s gallium content. Induction heating profiles are thus significantly expanded and could be applied for targeted heat-on-demand.