Unraveling the ignition chemistry of singly levitated aluminum iodate hexahydrate (AIH) particles

[Display omitted] •Aluminum iodate hexahydrate (AIH), additive for hydrocarbon and solid rocket fuels.•Ignition of single AIH particle during contactless acoustic levitation.•Time resolved emission spectroscopy detects reactive intermediates.•Plausible reaction pathways have been proposed. The ignition chemistry of a newly synthesized oxidizing salt, aluminum iodate hexahydrate ([Al(H2O)6](IO3)3(HIO3)2; AIH), while acoustically levitated in the presence of molecular oxygen inside a controlled process chamber is reported. Exploiting temporally resolved ultraviolet–visible (UV–Vis) spectroscopy, a complex pool of reactive transients has been detected, namely- aluminum monoxide (AlO), atomic aluminum (Al), atomic iodine (I), iodine monoxide (IO), atomic oxygen (O), along with stable products such as molecular iodine (I2) and water (H2O). The plausible pathways for the ignition process have been proposed which reveal AIH as a potential additive in hydrocarbon-based and solid rocket fuels in the near future.