Nano-aluminum as energetic material for rocket propellants

A characterization of differently sized aluminum powders, by using BET (specific surface measurements), Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), X-Ray Diffraction (XRD), and X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS), was performed in order to evaluate their performance in solid propellant. These aluminum powders were used in manufacturing composite rocket propellants, that are based on Ammonium Perchlorate (AP) as oxidizer and Hydroxyl-Terminated-PolyButadiene (HTPB) as binder. The reference formulation was AP/HTPB/Al with 68/17/15 mass fractions, respectively. The ballistic characterization of studied propellants, made in terms of steady burning rates, showed how better is the performance of nano-aluminized compared to micro-aluminized propellants. Measurements of Al powder ignition time and temperature were also carried out.