Comparison of thermal behaviors and decomposition kinetics of NEPE propellant before and after storage

Nitrate ester plasticized polyether (NEPE) propellant has attracted considerable attention as a kind of high-energy propellant. To investigate the evolution of thermal properties of NEPE propellant during storage life, TG-DSC-MS-FTIR was used to determine the thermal behaviors of the propellant samples before and after 5-year natural storage. It was found out that both samples experience five reaction steps and they are attributed by the evaporation and O–NO₂ bond breaking of nitrate, crystal transition of HMX and thermal decomposition of plasticizer, HMX and ammonium perchlorate. Decomposition process and temperature ranges of each step maintain consistency, but nitrate ester tends to decompose more than evaporate after storage. In the meantime, the area of DSC peak formed in the third step noticeably increased, which accounts for the lower thermal explosion temperature. To further study the decomposition of plasticizer and HMX, their kinetic triplets were solved. It was found out that the activation energy increases significantly on plasticizer decomposition step because of the enlargement of the nitrate’s particle size. Therefore, it can be drawn that the decline of NEPE propellant’s safety property after storage was contributed by the decomposition step of nitrate ester plasticizer.