Interfacial Engineering of Boron Ignition and Combustion: Oxide, Fluoride, and Synergistic Effects

Boron has exceptionally high gravimetric and volumetric energy densities, making it a highly promising fuel for high-performance propellant formulations. However, its practical application is seriously limited by surface oxidation, ignition difficulty, and the accumulation of combustion products that hinder subsequent reactions. Recent studies have therefore shifted toward interfacial engineering approaches, in which oxide, fluoride, and oxide–fluoride modifications are employed to regulate interfacial reactions and alter combustion pathways. This Review provides a systematic overview of how these modification strategies influence boron ignition and combustion, with particular emphasis on interfacial mechanisms, structural design principles and their correlations with combustion behavior, and performance enhancement behaviors, and further identifies key research needs in oxide film evolution, multiscale reaction modeling, and advanced in situ diagnostic techniques.