Multi-layer reactive foil: no fuel, no oxygen, tons of heat

This unusual sheet metal is made of hundreds of nano scale layers of aluminum and nickel. A spark initiates a self-propagating reaction that creates NiAl compound, and lots of heat! This material is used to solder items so fast that the base material doesn't have time to draw heat away from the joint. The technical data sheet indicates that this process is fluxless, and I suspect trying to include flux would cause rapid gas expansion that would blow the solder joint apart. I'm not sure how the solder wets the surface without flux.

[jamgreg]

We use this at work to bond power MOSFETs to copper bus bars. The trick is that the surfaces you want to bond should be tin-plated. You don't need solder film, and the joints are incredibly strong. I have tried breaking them apart by hand and cannot.

[JurekOK]

I have talked to the person that makes these in the UK. They make it by metal evaporation in a vacuum chamber. It's pretty expensive stuff.

[bigclivedotcom]

I wonder if you could make a version of that by electroplating on the thin alternating layers by alternating the material between two different electrolysis containers.

[Underhill-Studio-Albany]

Ben, I am very local to you and am a goldsmith. I've got many tools in my workshop that I feel would be very useful to many of your projects. Some of these tools are a rolling mill (would have been useful in today's video) and a powerful ND-YAG 80-joule laser welder that is normally used to weld micro scale for repairing things that are heat sensitive and casting equipment for lost wax casting. My friend recently contacted you regarding some holographic and interferometry equipment I wanted to donate to you, however, you simply don't have space for it. I get it, I have a fairly large workshop, and still, I have run out of space. my shop is in Albany CA, I offer you free use of it and any tools I own, and do feel I can occasionally be of great help to some of your projects. bye bye and maybe you will read this :)

[ecNfe]

It's a narrow range of solder thicknesses that this can work in. Al embrittles tin joints so you can't make the solder too thin either. If the surface isn't wetting then you may need to flux to remove the oxidation barrier. That and sometimes the solder you are using just doesn't form the right intermetallic with the surface finish. You probably need to get application engineer support from Indium Corp directly to get this to work, which explains why nanofoil hasn't really taken off despite being around at least 10+ years.

[DrakkarCalethiel]

What an interesting material. That stuff really shows how reactive some metals are when combined. Would love to see some more experiments with it!

[ericlotze]

Seeing a HUGE sheet of this, or roll that is unrolled, would make for an AMAZING episode on one of those Slow Motion Channels!

[KickF]

I wonder if ESD static discharge is enough to set it off ... would be interesting to see a video where you tried

[cylosgarage]

This is sick! I’d love to see you try making some in your sputtering chamber. I bet if you had one sputter gun for each metal you could just rotate a stage between them at a prescribed time interval and somewhat automate the production

[crabmansteve]

I look forward to posts from this channel more than any others by a long shot, with few exceptions outside of Tech Ingredients and a few machining channels I watch.

[NurdRage]

Holy crap that's incredible! how is it made? i had no idea something like that existed. But now i've seen it in action, it feels like something super obvious that i should have known. Amazing stuff.

Are there special procedures to cut it? i'd imagine you wouldn't want the roll/sheet to go off before you could use it.

[gordslater]

5:34 for something as large as that (high thermal mass) preheating all parts to say 100C or 120C will help. As an experienced "big" PCB reworker, the bond had all the visuals of a way-too-cold joint. On smaller parts (1-2% of the mass you used ) it would have probably been a much better bond.

Heck even a domestic hairdyer may help (I use one as a preheater to do PCB work on large PCBs and large components with lead-free solder such as power transformers, large RF screens and stripline filters)

[aaclaacl]

the best part of this channel is that everything here is INDUCTRIAL level and he presents like a secondary school level of difficulty level excellent content

[nigeljohnson]

I believe there is an explosive smokeless delay fuse that works in a similar fashion. I know it uses a wire passed through a dissimilar metal tube. One of the metals is Palladium the other is aluminium or a silver copper mix. When heated at one end, the metals, melt, forming an aloy, releasing considerable amounts of heat. The advantage is ignition without the release of any smoke or gas. I think it is sold under the trade name pyrofuze.

[JurekOK]

Try initiating the reaction by squeezing it real hard and then adding a bit more by striking it with a small hammer. This might enable it to initiate in multiple points at once, creating an even faster heat pulse.

[killsalot]

soldering a joint that big would be impossible with an iron so the reactive foil is actually super impressive it made it stick at all

[MattOGormanSmith]

As a ground plane in PCBs, this'd be neat for self-destructing electronics, although soldering it up without setting it off would be tricky.

[AdityaMehendale]

Indium corp. has a half-decent YT-channel too, where they showcase all these fancy nanolayer-materials.

Another "hidden gem" is nickel-plated (electroformed) bellows made by one "Servometer" co. They use a sacrificial aluminium (turned) mandrel, deposit nickel on it, then melt away the core. Amazing properties in the thin and isotropic nickel-layer deposited thusly ..

[adamh]

I get hyped every time you post a piece of content Ben. If memory serves you’re still working at verily? I can’t imagine trying to balance my brain between the two. Kudos and keep doing what you’re doing my guy 🤛

[CodeKujo]

I love the mug! That analogy works on so many levels.