Thermal degradation of some novel polyether-urethanes in propellant

The thermal degradation behavior of some novel polyether-urethanes in propellant was investigated with Thermogravimetry (TG) and Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC). The effect of glycol structure, antioxidant and centralite was also involved. EO/THF co-polyether showes that there is no obvious weight loss below 220 °C. Its stability can be significantly improved by curing with N-100 or adding antioxidant. The weight loss of polyether-urethanes cured by N-100 proceeded in two stages, first the volatilization and decomposition of plasticizer, then the pyrolysis of the Polyurethane network. Using EO/THF co-polyether as soft segment instead of PEG reduced the decomposition activation energy as well as the decomposition enthalpy of nitrate esters, but improved the stability of polyurethane network. Antioxidant and centralite decreased the decomposition enthalpy of nitrate esters while increased the stability of both nitrate esters and polyurethane network.