Propellants Explosives Pyrotechnics, Vol.41, No.2, 212-216, 2016
Preparation and Characterization of JP-10 Gel Propellants with Tris-Urea Low-Molecular Mass Gelators
The preparation and characterization of high-energy density hydrocarbon fuel JP-10 supramolecular gel propellants are reported. The low-molecular mass gelator 1,1,1-((2,4,6-trioxo-1,3,5-triazinane-1,3,5-triyl)tris(hexane-6,1-diyl))tris(3-octadecylurea) (HDIT-18) shows powerful gelation ability for JP-10, the critical gelator concentration for JP-10 is as low as 0.0638wt-%. The JP-10 supramolecular gel propellants exhibit high thermal stability. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) studies reveal that the gelator molecules self-assemble into 1-3m fibers in JP-10. Rheological studies show the JP-10 supramolecular gels are thixotropic and shear-thinning (for a shear rate range from 0.3 to 30s(-1)), the dynamic strain sweep test shows that the critical strain percentage of the gel materials is 1%. The studies reported herein provide a potential fuel material for gel propellants.
Keywords:Gel propellant;Low-molecular- mass organic gelator;Supramolecular self-assembly;Urea;Rheological property