Initial Studies on Development of High-Performance Nano-structured Fe{sub 2}O{sub 3} Catalysts for Solid Rocket Propellants

Journal Article · Fri Feb 15 04:00:00 EST 2019 · Journal of Materials Engineering and Performance

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1007/S11665-018-3812-X· OSTI ID:22970979

Patel, Rekha P.; Oommen, Charlie; Raghunandan, B. N. ^[1]

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1. Indian Institute of Science, Department of Aerospace Engineering (India)

Space launch vehicles and strategic military vehicles commonly employ composite solid rocket propellants containing Fe{sub 2}O{sub 3} as ballistic modifier. Nanoscale catalysts, including nanoscale Fe{sub 2}O{sub 3}, have been reported to exhibit superior activity in the thermal decomposition and combustion of composite rocket propellants. However, scalable methods to prepare such nano-structured catalysts with high performance as ballistic modifiers and systematic studies relating the synthesis parameters to the catalyst characteristics and consequently to the thermal and combustion properties of the composite propellant are scarce. In this paper, we report a novel and facile route to prepare nano-structured Fe{sub 2}O{sub 3} with enhanced catalytic activity in the ballistic modification of ammonium perchlorate (AP)-based composite solid rocket propellant. A submerged spray precipitation method using air-assisted liquid-centered coaxial atomization has been developed to prepare these nano-structured Fe{sub 2}O{sub 3} catalysts. The prepared Fe{sub 2}O{sub 3} catalysts possess higher surface area and exhibit superior activity in the thermal sensitization of AP, leading to an 88% increase in the burning rate of AP-based composite solid rocket propellants, than the Fe{sub 2}O{sub 3} catalyst prepared via traditional precipitation method. Merits of the developed preparatory route, influence of the atomization process on the nano-structure morphology and subsequent benefits of these nano-structured catalysts on the ballistic properties of AP-based propellants are demonstrated and discussed in this paper.

• OSTI ID: 22970979
• Journal Information: Journal of Materials Engineering and Performance, Journal Name: Journal of Materials Engineering and Performance Journal Issue: 2 Vol. 28; ISSN 1059-9495; ISSN JMEPEG
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE
77 NANOSCIENCE AND NANOTECHNOLOGY
AMMONIUM PERCHLORATES
CATALYSTS
COMBUSTION PROPERTIES
EXPLOSIVES
FERRITES
FUELS
IRON OXIDES
NANOSTRUCTURES
ROCKETS
SPACE VEHICLES
SURFACE AREA
SYNTHESIS