HIGH-NITROGEN METAL COMPLEXES AS BURNING-RATE MODIFIERS FOR THE ALUMINUM-WATER PROPELLANT SYSTEM

Abstract

The reactions of electropositive metals, such as aluminum, with water have long been utilized in explosive and propellant formulations, but until recently this has mostly been limited to the water formed as a product gas from the decomposition of another energetic system . Recently, however, with the increased availability of nano-particulate materials, the direct reaction of nano-aluminum (nAl) with water as an oxidizer has been investigated as a propellant system due to high reaction temperatures and the production of hydrogen as the primary gaseous species. This system could be useful for intra-planetary travel where non-terrestrial water is harvested for the oxidizer. Here we present the study of nAl, mixed at a stoichiometric ratio with water ({Phi} = 1) with the highly water soluble metal complexes of bis(tetrazolato)amine (BTA) added at 5, 15,30 and 50 wt% in the case of FeBTA and 5 and 15 wt% in the case of NiBTA and CoBTA. The basic structure of the BTA complexes is shown below where M = Fe, Ni or Co, and x = 3 for Fe and Co and x = 2 for Ni. The particle size of nAl studied was primarily 38 nm with various studies with the particle size more » of 80 nm. The FeBT A at a loading of 15 wt% gave the highest burning rate enhancement (4.6x at {approx}6.8 MPa), while retaining a low pressure exponent (0.21 compared to 0.24 for nA/H{sub 2}O). At 15 wt% the Ni and Co increased the burning rate, but also increased the pressure exponents. The burning rate of the FeBTA modified material with 80 nm Al decreased as the weight percent of FeBTA was increased, which also tracked decrease in the calculated specific impulse of the mixtures. « less