Thermal decomposition of 1,1'-bicyclohexyl, a potential surrogate component of high-density hydrocarbon fuels, was performed in a batch-type reactor to investigate its thermal stability. A first-order kinetic equation is supposed to correlate the decomposition process, and the apparent rate constants, ranging from 0.0223 h(-1) at 683 K to 0.1979 h(-1) at 713 K, are determined. The Arrhenius parameters are determined with the pre-exponential factor A = 6.22 X 10(20) h(-1) and the activation energy E-a = 293 kJ.mol(-1). Compared with four typical hydrocarbon compounds, the thermal stability trend is observed in the order of n-dodecane approximate to 1,3,5-triisopropylcyclohexane > bicyclohexyl > n-propylcyclohexane > decalin. Cyclohexane and cyclohexene are found to be the primary products due to the relatively low energy of the C-C bond connecting the two cyclohexyl rings. Bicyclohexyl decomposes into cyclohexane and cyclohexene equivalently at the beginning of the reaction. A probable mechanism on the basis of quantum calculation and GC-MS analyses for the decomposition of bicyclohexyl is proposed to explain the product distribution. It is shown that the formation of decomposition products is mainly obtained through hydrogen transfer, beta-scission, isomerization, or dehydrogenation.