Catalytic activity of K2Ba[Ni(NO2)6] on the thermolysis and laser ignition of CL-20, FOX-7 and TKX-50

Hexanitro complex K 2 Ba[Ni(NO 2 ) 6 ] was prepared via the co-precipitation method, and its composition and morphology were characterized by XRD , SEM , XPS and FT-IR techniques. The catalytic performances of K 2 Ba[Ni(NO 2 ) 6 ] for CL-20, FOX-7 and TKX-50 thermolysis were also discussed and studied by using DSC and TG-DTG-MS. After K 2 Ba[Ni(NO 2 ) 6 ] were mixed with CL-20, the activation energy ( E a ) of thermolysis reaction was increased, while the heat release was greatly improved, and the transformation from NH 3 to NO occurred. It is attributed to that the decomposition products of K 2 Ba[Ni(NO 2 ) 6 ] have strong effects on the oxidation of the radicals and the electrons transfer . Besides, the thermolysis E a of FOX-7 by addition of the K 2 Ba[Ni(NO 2 ) 6 ] was increased by 81.03 kJ mol −1 , and the heat release was greatly increased. In addition to that the two-step separate thermolysis processes of pure FOX-7 was almost replaced by a one-step exothermic reaction for the FOX-7/K 2 Ba[Ni(NO 2 ) 6 ] mixture, which was due to that Ni 2+ cations could effectively increase the activity of amino groups in the FOX-7 thermolysis process. Finally, K 2 Ba[Ni(NO 2 ) 6 ] scarcely has the thermolysis catalytic activity of TKX-50 owing to the influence of metal cations on the decomposition of the hydroxylamine . Furtherly, the characteristics of ignition and flame propagation on the three energetic mixtures were strongly correlated to their thermolysis pathway and mechanism. The comparative study on the effects of K 2 Ba[Ni(NO 2 ) 6 ] to the CL-20, FOX-7 and TKX-50 thermolysis and ignition showed that the hexanitro complex has great significance on promoting the heat release efficiency of solid propellants for future study.