Thermal decomposition and kinetic modeling of HNTO/AN-based composite solid propellant in the presence of GO-based nanocatalyst

Abstract

The present study has been conducted to investigate the characteristics of composite solid propellant (CSP) based on hydrazinium 3-nitro-1,2,4-triazol-5-one and ammonium nitrate (HNTO/AN) cocrystal as an oxidizer and hydroxyl-terminated polybutadiene (HTPB) as a binder, supplemented with or without nanocatalyst (triaminoguanidine-transition iron, containing graphene oxide). NASA Lewis Code, Chemical Equilibrium with Application (CEA), has been used to select the optimal formulation through the evaluation of the theoretical performance. Compared to the AP/HTPB baseline formulation, the developed one presents promising properties since it may deliver an interesting specific impulse value (231 s−1). On the other hand, based on the DSC data, the kinetic triplet of the studied samples was determined using four model-free integral methods, namely, it-KAS, it-FWO, VYA, and TAS. It was observed that the decomposition peak temperature (Tp) and the activation energy (Ea) decreased obviously after the addition of the nanocatalyst. This study will certainly motivate further researches in the field of energetic cocrystals and graphene-based materials expected to be used in solid rocket propellant formulations.