Control of Chemical Reaction of Aluminium Nanoparticles by Silicon Polymer Coating

By using silicon polymer, the chemical reaction of Aluminium nanoparticles was controlled, especially, the corrosion reaction was reduced. The coverage of the silicon polymer film on Al nanoparticles was controlled, which changed the chemical reaction rate quantitatively. TEM (Transmission Electron Microscope) analysis indicated that the polymer film of 10 nm thick fully covered Al nanoparticle in the case of 5 mass% polymer coated Al particles in the synthesis. On the other hand, 0.4-1.0 mass% polymer coated Al was partially covered by a film. The AFM-KFM (Atomic Force Microscope-Kelvin prove Force Microscope) demonstrated that the conductivity of the Al nanoparticle was isolated by the polymer. Both the corrosion and H2 evolution reaction rates were quantitatively reduced by the mass% of polymer coating on the surface of Al particle. This fact suggested that the electrochemical reaction was suppressed by the polymer coating. It was found that the chemical reaction rate of Al nanoparticles could be quantitatively controlled by the coverage of the silicon coating.