Synthesis and reactive characterization of aluminum iodate hexahydrate crystals [Al(H^sub 2^O)^sub 6^](IO^sub 3^)^sub 3^(HIO^sub 3^)^sub 2

A crystalline aluminum iodate acid salt has been synthesized from aluminum particles dissolved in iodic acid solution. The precipitate from solution is aluminum iodate hexahydrate [Al(H2O)6](IO3)3(HIO3)2, as confirmed by X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis. The method of synthesis first dissolves iodine oxide in water, creating an IO3− solution with pH < 0.2. Aluminum nanoparticles are added to the IO3− solution and aluminum iodate hexahydrate (AIH) crystals precipitate. The bulk density of the crystalline AIH and Al composite is dependent on the initial water to aluminum concentration ratio during synthesis. Reactivity is characterized in terms of flame speed with measurements purposefully designed to capture less than 1% light emission, resulting in speeds as high as 3200 m/s for AIH + Al composite with a calculated density of 3.43 g/cc.