EFFECTS OF FLUORINATED AND NON-FLUORINATED ADDITIVES ON BURNING RATES OF BORON-TEFLON BLENDS FOR SOLID ROCKET PROPULSION

Abstract

Boron is considered a promising metal fuel for energetic propellants due to its high energy density, but in practice, boron experiences slow combustion kinetics. Fluorinated additives can improve boron combustion. The objective of this study was to determine how different fluorinated additives would affect the burn rate of a boron-based fuel in a high-pressure inert environment. Boron powder was sintered with polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) powder to create test pellets with variable fluorine:boron mass ratios. Three different purities of boron powders were tested, along with three different fluoropolymer additives and 14 other additives, which varied in molecular morphology and fluorination. The base boron-PTFE test pellets with no additives have a maximum burning rate at fluorine:boron mass ratio of ~ 3.5, which remains the same even with additives at 20 wt%. A commercial fluoropolymer, Aquivion, showed significant burn rate enhancement at 20 wt% but not at 5 wt%. At this lower loading level, materials that tend to enhance thermal conductivity (graphene, nanotubes) show some burn rate enhancement, even without fluorination. However, very significant burn rate enhancement is shown by a fluorinated carbon nanotube, likely due to the reduced bond dissociation energy of fluorine when attached to a nanotube. The data suggest this method of fluorination can have an important effect on enhancing boron combustion, and even small additives with readily available fluorine could significantly improve boron combustion rates for solid propellant applications.