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Active Thermitic Material
Discovered in Dust from the 9/11 World Trade Center
Catastrophe |
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pp.7-31 (25) Authors:
Niels H. Harrit, Jeffrey
Farrer, Steven E. Jones, Kevin R. Ryan, Frank M. Legge,
Daniel Farnsworth, Gregg Roberts, James R. Gourley,
Bradley R. Larsen |
doi:
10.2174/1874412500902010007
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Abstract |
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We have discovered distinctive red/gray chips in all the
samples we have studied of the dust produced by the
destruction of the World Trade Center. Examination of four of
these samples, collected from separate sites, is reported in
this paper. These red/gray chips show marked similarities in
all four samples. One sample was collected by a Manhattan
resident about ten minutes after the collapse of the second
WTC Tower, two the next day, and a fourth about a week later.
The properties of these chips were analyzed using optical
microscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray energy
dispersive spectroscopy (XEDS), and differential scanning
calorimetry (DSC). The red material contains grains
approximately 100 nm across which are largely iron oxide,
while aluminum is contained in tiny plate-like structures.
Separation of components using methyl ethyl ketone
demonstrated that elemental aluminum is present. The iron
oxide and aluminum are intimately mixed in the red material.
When ignited in a DSC device the chips exhibit large but
narrow exotherms occurring at approximately 430 °C, far below
the normal ignition temperature for conventional thermite.
Numerous iron-rich spheres are clearly observed in the residue
following the ignition of these peculiar red/gray chips. The
red portion of these chips is found to be an unreacted
thermitic material and highly energetic.
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| Keywords:
JScanning electron microscopy, X-ray energy dispersive
spectroscopy, Differential scanning calorimetry, DSC analysis,
World Trade Center, WTC dust, 9/11, Iron-rich microspheres,
Thermite, Super-thermite, Energetic nanocomposites,
Nano-thermite |
| Affiliation: Department of Chemistry,
University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, DK-2100, Denmark. |
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