University of Central Florida Research Foundation, Inc. (Orlando, FL) scientists found that adding nanoparticles as a catalyst to solid propellant fuel increases and enhances burn rates of the fuel by up to 10 times or more and/or modifying the pressure index. A preferred embodiment uses TiO2 nanoparticles mixed with a solid propellant fuel, where the nanoparticles are approximately 2% or less of total propellant mixture. The high surface to volume ratio of the nanoparticles improves the performance of the solid propellant fuel. The discovery earned U.S. Patent 8,060,217.
According to inventors Eric Petersen (Orlando, FL), Jennifer Small (Dunlap, IL), Metthew Stephens (Ft. Pierce, FL), Jason Arvanetes (Crestview, FL), Sudipta Seal (Oviedo, FL), and Sameer Deshpande (Orlando, FL), their results confirm that the addition of titania nanoparticle additives at about 0.4% of the total propellant mass has a definite impact on the burn rate of solid propellants at various pressures. Future studies are required to further verify these results, including repetition of titania nanoparticle burns with larger pressure ranges, experimentation on the percentage of additive used in the propellant, consideration of other organometallic nanoparticle additives, conduction of new suspension methods of additives in various solvents, and exploration of structural characteristics and physical properties of the final product.
The application of nanotitania to solid propellants is not limited to AP/HTPB/Aluminum mixtures only, but can be applied to non-metallized composite propellant mixtures (i.e., no aluminum) of AP/HTPB. Other oxidizers and binders in place of AP (ammonium perchlorate) and HTPB (Hydroxyl-terminated Polybutadiene) can be used as the baseline composite propellant.
According to inventors Eric Petersen (Orlando, FL), Jennifer Small (Dunlap, IL), Metthew Stephens (Ft. Pierce, FL), Jason Arvanetes (Crestview, FL), Sudipta Seal (Oviedo, FL), and Sameer Deshpande (Orlando, FL), their results confirm that the addition of titania nanoparticle additives at about 0.4% of the total propellant mass has a definite impact on the burn rate of solid propellants at various pressures. Future studies are required to further verify these results, including repetition of titania nanoparticle burns with larger pressure ranges, experimentation on the percentage of additive used in the propellant, consideration of other organometallic nanoparticle additives, conduction of new suspension methods of additives in various solvents, and exploration of structural characteristics and physical properties of the final product.
The application of nanotitania to solid propellants is not limited to AP/HTPB/Aluminum mixtures only, but can be applied to non-metallized composite propellant mixtures (i.e., no aluminum) of AP/HTPB. Other oxidizers and binders in place of AP (ammonium perchlorate) and HTPB (Hydroxyl-terminated Polybutadiene) can be used as the baseline composite propellant.
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