Influence of Aluminum Particle Size on Thermal Decomposition of RDX

The effect of aluminum particle size (10.7 µm, 2.6 µm, and 40 nm) on the thermal decomposition of 1,3,5-trimethylene trinitramine (RDX) was investigated using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), thermogravimetry-derivative thermogravimetry (TG-DTG), and DSC-TG-mass spectrometry (MS)-Fourier tra...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of energetic materials 2013-07, Vol.31 (3), p.178-191
Main Authors: Zhu, Y.-L., Huang, H., Ren, H., Jiao, Q.-J.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Aluminum
Differential scanning calorimetry
Fourier transforms
Mass spectrometry
Mathematical analysis
Nanocomposites
Nanomaterials
Nanostructure
nonisothermal reaction kinetics
RDX
Spectroscopy
Thermal decomposition
Thermogravimetric analysis
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Summary:The effect of aluminum particle size (10.7 µm, 2.6 µm, and 40 nm) on the thermal decomposition of 1,3,5-trimethylene trinitramine (RDX) was investigated using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), thermogravimetry-derivative thermogravimetry (TG-DTG), and DSC-TG-mass spectrometry (MS)-Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, respectively. The results showed that the first exothermic peak (512 K) of RDX diminishes gradually with an increase in the nanosize aluminum content and is overcome by the second exothermic peak when the content of nano-Al reaches 30 wt%. The reaction mechanisms demonstrated by the nonisothermal kinetics of RDX in the absence and presence of 30 wt% Al were conformed to the Avrami-Erofeev equations for all of the RDX compositions. The nucleus growth factor for the RDX/40 nm Al mixture was found to be n = 2/3 compared to n = 3/4 for RDX with and without the microsized Al. The MS and FTIR analyses indicated that the thermal decomposition of RDX in the presence of Al nanopowders favors C-N bond cleavage over N-N bond cleavage as the rate determining step.
ISSN:0737-0652
1545-8822
DOI:10.1080/07370652.2012.688788