Nanoporous silicon as a bulk energetic material

Nanoporous energetic silicon is a promising new energetic material that can be integrated on-chip using current silicon bulk micromachining techniques. In this paper, we present the characteristics of the nanoenergetic reaction, including energy output, gas generation, and chemical products. The energy output is measured as 9.2 kJ/g, more than double that of TNT. The gas generation was measured as 0.019 mol/g, about 50% higher than black powder. Finally we demonstrate integration of the nanoporous silicon alongside a MEMS acceleration switch.