A solar-energy-derived strained hydrocarbon as an energetic hypergolic fuel

Quadricyclane (QC), synthesized from photoisomerization and commonly used for solar-energy conversion and storage, is found to be an excellent hypergolic fuel. The ignition delay time of QC-N2O4 is 29ms, which is decreased to 18ms by addition of boron nanoparticles. Importantly, quadricyclane has 18.9% higher specific impulsion than currently used but dangerous dimethylhydrazine.