We studied the gas generation and thermal wave behavior during the detonation of a novel nanoenergetic mixture of iodine oxide and aluminum. The ignition of a homogeneous mixture of iodine pentoxide (78 wt. %) and aluminum nanoparticles (22 wt. %) occurs in the range of 605-620 °C. It generates a high discharge pressure (~11 MPa) and a shock wave with a velocity of ~2000 m/s. The pressure very rapidly rose to its peak during ~ 4 μs with a ΔP/Δt of up to 2750 GPa/s. The ignition temperature exceeded by at least 100 °C those of conventional thermite systems implying that the Al/I2O5 nano mixtures can be safely stored and handled. The activation energy for the nanoscale reaction of 3I2O5+10Al=5Al2O3+6I was estimated to be 152 kJ/mol. The maximum pressure x volume (PV-value) obtained by a 0.5 g mixture was ~3.8 kPa.m. This compares well with the highest reported value of 3.9 kPa.m for the Bi2O3/Al mixture for the same sample mass.