Combustion of Al nanoparticles coated with ethanol/ether molecules by non-equilibrium molecular dynamics simulations

•Coating Al nanoparticle (ANP) with organic small molecular materials: ethanol and ether as a novel clean energy.•The relationship between ANPs and their coating layer during the ignition and combustion stages is firstly studied.•Thermodynamic performance improved by organic layer from the ignition to combustion period is studied detailly.•Properties of two organic coating layer including structure and chemical reactivity aspects are discussed detailly.