Polymeric microcombustors for solid-phase conductive fuels

This paper presents a micromachined SU-8 combustor for the ignition and reaction of solid conductive fuels. Solid fuels can be made conductive by doping the fuel with conductive powder. The conductive solid fuel serves to simplify device fabrication by allowing ignition to occur by passing current directly through the fuel sample from two MEMS-fabricated electrodes as opposed to relying on the transfer of heat from external or imbedded igniters. An array of high-aspect-ratio electrodes were patterned from SU-8 by multiple-exposure. The devices were filled with 3.97 mm³ of graphite-doped conductive Glycidyl-Azide-Polymer (GAP). Nozzles with varying sizes are fitted on the microcombustors. Approximately 600 mN was generated within 20 ms. The easy fabrication and low cost/weight of these microcombustors or gas generators lend themselves to disposable, one-use, or short duration applications.