Hypergolic Materials Synthesis: A Review

Author(s): Athanasios B Bourlinos, Nikolaos Chalmpes, Dimitrios Gournis, Michael A Karakassides

Hypergolic materials synthesis is a new preparative technique in materials science that allows a wide range of carbon (nanosheets, dots, hollow spheres, discs, fullerols, graphene/graphite) or inorganic (magnetic, photocatalytic, metallic or metal alloy) solids with useful properties to be obtained. Solely based on simple hypergolic reactions that lift-off rockets to space, the method not only allows the fast and spontaneous synthesis of several nanomaterials at ambient conditions, but also releases sizable amounts of energy that can be directly converted into useful work, such as chemical, mechanical, photovoltaic, thermoelectric or heating fluids. The present review aims to summarize the basic principles behind this new technique, to emphasize the general character and simplicity of the method by citing several paradigms of carbon and inorganic functional materials syntheses, as well as, to discuss some future prospects for large scale implementation based on rocket fuel engineering concepts.