Dear Colleagues,

Metal combustion is often considered a mature field since many of the seminal works that are still often cited were in the 1950s and 1960s. Despite decades of research, robust predictive models for the oxidation of even our most well understood metals like aluminum, remain elusive. So much has been learned, yet there is still so much to know. Additionally elusive are the engineering realizations of the promises of metal combustion like high specific energies for, propellants and explosive systems. New techniques and approaches, over the past two decades have generated a renaissance in metal combustion research. In part, there has been a focus on the short length scales, looking at micron and sub-micron particulate scales where many of the observed trends in oxidation rate, ignition behavior, and flame structure break down. The potential for fast reacting systems of sub-micron metal particulate systems remains great, though many observed phenomena at these scales remain puzzling.  In addition, though pure elemental metal systems have been most often studied for oxidation behavior, the recent focus—following that of the structural materials community—is increasingly on alloyed and multi-component systems including coated, treated, or washed particles. Thermitic and intermetallic systems have seen extensive interest, especially with the emergence of mechanical alloys, which has greatly expanded the chemistries available for study. Such multicomponent systems have the potential to surmount many of the known challenges of metal combustion (slow oxidation rate, high ignition temperatures, incomplete combustion, etc.). Finally, new tools have been brought to bear on the problem, allowing metal combustion to be examined in ways that were not possible before. Environmental transmission electron microscopy, dynamic x-ray diffraction, and other materials science technologies have allowed discernment of new temporal and spatial scales.

It is my pleasure to assist with this Special Issue focusing on new developments in metal combustion which I hope will showcase some of the exciting research being undertaken in this active field.

Prof. Nick G Glumac
Guest Editor

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• metal combustion
• ignition
• oxidation
• alloys