Synthesis and characterization of a novel fluorine-containing copolymer P(FPO/NIMMO) as a potential energetic binder

The energetic polymeric binders play a key role in the solid propellants, and it create an important need for the development of the energetic binder performance. In this work, we developed a strategy for obtaining a novel fluorine-containing copolymer P(FPO/NIMMO) by the cationic ring-opening polymerization of 2-(2,2,3,3-tetrafluoro-propoxymethyl)-oxirane (FPO) and 3-nitratomethyl-3-methyloxetane (NIMMO). The chemical structure of P(FPO/NIMMO) was systemically characterized by Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR), 1 H and 13 C nuclear magnetic resonance ( 1 H NMR and 13 C NMR), and gel permeation chromatography (GPC). Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA-DTG) was utilized to evaluate the thermal stability of (FPO/NIMMO) and the result showed that the sharp weight loss temperature was at 215.7 °C. In comparison with PNIMMO, the P(FPO/NIMMO) had a lower glass transition temperature (T g ) of -42.7 °C detecting by the differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), indicating that it developed the better stability performance. This new strategy is devised for the utility of P(FPO/NIMMO) copolymer , enabling their extension to be potential energetic binder for solid propellants.