Studies on azotetrazolate based high nitrogen content high energy materials potential additives for rocket propellants

This paper reports the synthesis, characterisation and thermolysis studies of a series of azotetrazolate salts, viz., ammonium/guanidinium/triaminoguanidinium azotetrazolate]. TG-DTA and DSC results of these compounds exhibited their thermal stability up to 180°C. DSC indicated the highest heat release (2804 J g^–1) for guanidinium azotetrazolate salt during exothermic decomposition. FTIR of the decomposition products of azotetrazolate salts showed bands at 3264 and 2358 cm^–1 which may be attributed to gaseous species such as NH₃ and HCN or NH₂CN. The sensitivity data suggests low vulnerability of ammonium and guanidinium salts. In cyclic voltammetric studies all the salts showed similar response in reduction reactions. Triamino guanidinium azotetrazolate (TAGAZ) was incorporated into solid propellant formulations in order to establish the compatibility of this class of compounds. DSC results revealed that it does not have adverse effect on thermal stability of double base matrix. The burning rate data obtained indicated that TAGAZ acts as an efficient energetic additive in composite modified double base (CMDB) propellant formulations in high-pressure region.The authors are grateful to Dr. Haridwar Singh, Outstanding Scientist and Director, HEMRL for constant encouragement to carry out this work. Authors also thankful to Dr. R. S. Satpute, Dr. A. N. Nazare and Dr. C. N. Divekar for their assistance in propellant processing.