Mechanical Stimulation of Gasless Reaction in Inorganic Systems: Overview

The phenomenon of a reaction, occurring in inorganic high energy density systems after it is stimulated by a shock wave, has been under investigation for a long time. The first experimental studies on the topic of chemical transformations in the inorganic substance under shock compression dated back to the late 1950s and a lot of work has been accomplished since. In this overview, we primarily consider reactive heterogeneous media that involves a powder mixture of the inorganic solid precursors, which, after mechanical stimulation, resulted in the synthesis of a new material. It is no doubt that such reactions can be initiated by sufficient mechanical impulse, but can they occur in the time scale of the high-pressure shock state? What mechanisms may be responsible for such rapid solid-state transformations? These and related questions are discussed based on the recent experimental findings.