Effect of Nano-Copper Chromite on the Thermal Decomposition and Combustion of AP-Based Solid Propellants

This investigation was devoted to exploring the application performance of nano-combustion catalyst CuCr2O4 in solid propellants. In this paper, raw CuCr2O4 and nano-CuCr2O4 prepared by the mechanical grinding method were applied in solid propellants containing ammonium perchlorate (AP), which are ammonium perchlorate/ hydroxy-terminated polybutadiene propellant (AP/HTPB) and ammonium perchlorate/composite modified double-base propellant (AP/CMDB). And the scanning electron microscope, displacement volume method, thermogravimetric analysis, differential scanning calorimetry, and strand burner method were employed to characterize the performance of AP-based solid propellants. The results show that the AP/HTPB propellant has fewer defects on the surface of it due to the presence of nano-CuCr2O4, but it has no significant effect on the AP/CMDB propellant. Nano-CuCr2O4 can also significantly increase the density of AP/HTPB propellant and AP/CMDB propellant to 1.736 g/cm(3) and 1.633 g/cm(3), respectively. Nano-CuCr2O4 obviously advances the decomposition temperature of AP/HTPB propellant and AP/CMDB propellant, which also increases the apparent heat of decomposition. In addition, the burning rate of nano-CuCr2O4-AP/HTPB propellant and nano-CuCr2O4-AP/CMDB propellant increased to 1.60 mm/s and 3.23 mm/s, with an increase of 28.3 % and 26.3 %, respectively. Therefore, nano-CuCr2O4 is expected to be widely used in solid propellants due to its excellent properties.

Automated summary

This investigation explores the application performance of nano-combustion catalyst CuCr2O4 in solid propellants. The results show that nano-CuCr2O4 can improve the surface defects of the propellant and significantly increase its density and burning rate. This catalyst is expected to be widely used in solid propellants.