Study on synthesis of quadricyclane and its hypergolic property

Quadricyclane (QC) possessing high strain and caged structure is a very promoting spontaneous ignition type hydrocarbon fuel. The synthesis process of QC in kilogram scale was studied under the condition of no solvent. The spontaneous ignition performance of QC/white fuming nitric acid (WFNA) and QC/N₂O₄ was measured. After 16 h-reaction and further purification, the purity and yield of QC product can reach 99.5% and 96.2%, respectively. The batch production is 2 kg. The ignition delay time of QC/WFNA and QC/N₂O₄ are 98 ms and 29 ms, respectively. The addition of boron, carbon and aluminum nanoparticles can improve the spontaneous ignition performance. The boron, carbon and aluminum nanoparticles can shorten the ignition delay time. After adding the 0.25% mass fraction of boron/alumium/carbon nanoparticles, the ignition delay time is 68/73/75 ms (WFNA) and 18/27/33 ms (N₂O₄), respectively, proving that QC can be used as a kind of high-energy liquid propellant.