The thermal stability of fluorine modified and nickel modified aluminum-based active fuel

Abstract

The addition of F and Ni modification of Al can significantly enhance the ignition and combustion properties of the propellants. DSC/TGA was used to obtain the reaction thermodynamic process of Al, Al95-PTFE5 (containing Al-polytetrafluoroethylene composites), and Al95-Ni5 (containing Al and Ni composites). The addition of F and Ni greatly increased the mass percentage and exotherm of Al in the first stage (about 580–680 °C), which caused a decrease in temperature that might trigger ignition. Considering the initial reaction temperature and heat release that might trigger ignition, the thermal stability was ranked as Al > Al95-Ni5 > Al95-PTFE5. The activation energy values of the first stage were ranked as Al95-PTFE5 > Al > Al95-Ni5. In addition, the saturated moisture state significantly affected the thermal stability of the nickel-modified aluminum-based active fuel and reduced the thermal stability of Al95-Ni5 at a constant temperature of 30 °C and 50 °C. The conclusions obtained from this study can substantially improve the safety of aluminum and aluminum-based active fuels in use.