Preparation of metal salts of 5-ferrocenyl-1H-tetrazole and their combustion catalytic activities in thermal decomposition of main components of solid propellants

To solve the high migration tendency and volatility problems of commercialized neutral ferrocene-based burning rate catalysts,eight metal salts of ferrocenyl-1 H-tetrazole,including Fe(Ⅲ),Co(Ⅱ),Ni(Ⅱ),Cu(Ⅱ),Zn(Ⅱ),Ag(Ⅰ),Pb(Ⅱ)and Bi(Ⅲ)salts,were prepared with sodium ferrocenyl-1 H-tetrazolate and corresponding common soluble metal salts as raw materials.The new salts were characterized by FT-IR,UV-Vis spectroscopy and elemental analysis.Their thermal stability was determined by TG technique and found that these salts showed good thermal stability(> 200 ℃).Their electrochemical behavior were investigated using cyclic voltammetry and the results suggested that most of them exhibit redox waves for the ferrocenyl groups and are considered as irreversible redox systems.Their catalytic effects on the thermal degradation of main components in solid propellants,AP,RDX and HMX,were evaluated by DSC.All the newsalts can narrow the decomposition temperature span and increase the degradation rate of AP.Some of the salts enhance the heat released by RDX and shift downwards the peak temperature of RDX.However,none of the salts exert significant effect on the thermal decomposition of HMX.Therefore,the ferrocenyl-1 H-tetrazole derived salts display good combustion catalytic properties for thermal disintegration of both AP and RDX.