Ionic Liquid Fuels for Chemical Propulsion

Abstract

The ionic liquid (IL) program at the Air Force Research Laboratory is focused on the synthesis and characterization of tailored energy-dense liquids to provide a scientific foundation for the advancement of the performance and operability envelopes of current propulsion systems. General efforts focus on the discovery of energetic ILs based on heterocyclic and open-chain cations in combination with reactive anions. A major goal has been the development of IL fuels which undergo hypergolic ignition upon contact with common propulsion oxidizers. This account discusses the combination of some azolium, ammonium, hydrazinium, guanidinium and hydrazidinium cations with dicyanamide, nitrate, azide and tricyanomethanide anions. Their synthesis and characterization are described along with results of simple hypergolicity drop tests. The utility and reproducibility of these tests and possible mechanistic scenarios for these reactions are also discussed.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Mar 01, 2012
Accession Number
ADA588628

Entities

People

  • Jeff Mills
  • Stefan Schneider
  • Stephan Deplazes
  • Tom W. Hawkins
  • Yonis Ahmed

Organizations

  • Air Force Research Laboratory

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Energy and Power Technologies
  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Air Force
  • Air Force Research Laboratories
  • Chemical Synthesis
  • Chemistry
  • Combustion
  • Crystal Structure
  • Drop Tests
  • Drops
  • Hypergolic Ignition
  • Ignition
  • Ionic Liquids
  • Liquid Rocket Oxidizers
  • Liquids
  • Materials Science
  • Physical Properties
  • Propulsion Systems
  • Rocket Oxidizers

Fields of Study

  • Chemistry

Readers

  • Organic Chemistry
  • Quantum Chemistry
  • Rocket Propulsion.