Effects of phase change material (PCM)-based nanocomposite additives on thermal decomposition and burning characteristic of high energy propellants containing RDX

Abstract

A kind of phase change material (PCM)-based nanocomposite was prepared and added into high energy propellants containing RDX as additives to investigate its effect on thermal decomposition and burning characteristic of high energy propellants. The effect of PCM-based nanocomposites on thermal decomposition of high energy propellants is investigated by TG/DSC-FTIR-MS technology. Due to the delayed protection effect (PCM-based nanocomposites can absorb lots of heat at the range of certain temperature when it undergoes structure change or phase transitions) of PCM-based nanocomposites under the thermal decomposition condition, the thermal stability of high energy propellants modified with PCM-based nanocomposites is improved. At the same time, the concentration of N2, NO2, H2O and CO2 is increased during thermal decomposition of high energy propellants whereas NO and CO is decreased. The burning gaseous products and burning characteristic of high energy propellants are studied by the combination of closed bomb test and Fourier transform infrared spectrum. The main burning gaseous products are N2, CO2, CO, H2O, CH4, etc. After the high energy propellant modified with PCM-based nanocomposites, the concentration of CH4 is increased while CO, CO2 and H2O is decreased under the high-pressure burning condition. The progressivity factor of high energy propellants is increased by 22.2% compared with the control sample while the maximum pressure is merely decreased 1.25% after the addition of the PCM-based nanocomposite, thus PCM-based nanocomposites can be used to adjust the burning process and improve the burning progressivity of high energy propellants. This study is expected to boost the practical application of PCM-based nanocomposite to the propellant formulation and effectively control the burning characteristic of high energy propellants.