FEASIBILITY OF NITRATED THERMOPLASTIC ELASTOMER AS ENERGETIC BINDER

TO IMPROVE CURRENT DOUBLE BASE AND CAST CURED PROPELLANT FORMULATIONS,POLYMERIZATION OF ENERGETIC MONOMERS HAS BEEN STUDIED, BUT THESE ROUTES HAVE SHOWN COMPLEX SYNTHESIS REQUIREMENTS AND MARGINAL MECHANICAL PROPERTIES. THE CONVENIENCE AND REUSE CHARACTERISTICS OF THERMOPLASTIC ELASTOMERS (TPE) WOULD BE DESIRED FOR BINDER APPLICATIONS, AND ENERGETIC TPES WOULD BE PARTICULAR ADVANTAGEOUS. IN THE PROPOSED PROGRAM, MEMBERS OF THE KRATON CLASS OF TPES WILL BE ENERGIZED; THIS IS THE MOST WIDELY USED TPE COMMERCIALLY, AND HAS SUPERIORMECHANICAL AND CHEMICAL PROPERTIES. THE TPE WILL BE ENERGIZED USING DIRECT POLYMER NITRATION CHEMISTRY ALREADY DEVELOPED AT KSE. BECAUSE OF THE SUPERIOR INITIAL MECHANICAL PROPERTIES AND WELL-KNOWN FORMULATION ADDITIVIES FOR KRATON, WE EXPECT TO DEMONSTRATE THE FEASIBILITY OF A SIMPLE ONE-STEP PROCESS TO PRODUCE ENERGETIC TPES FROM AN EXISTING COMMERCIAL PRODUCT. DUE TO THE HIGH ENERGY BINDER, PLASTICIZER REFORMULATION WILL BE POSSIBLE TO ACHIEVE MORE EFFECTIVE KRATON PROPERTIES UNDER HIGH SOLIDS LOAD, THEREBY OPTIMIZING BINDER COMPOSITION TO ACHIEVE A COMBINATION OF MECHANICAL AND CHEMICAL PROPERTIES, ENERGY DENSITY, AND SAFETY. THE PROGRAM WILL UTILIZE RESOURCES OF THE POLYMER SCIENCE DEPARTMENT AT THE UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS. CERTAIN ENERGETIC AND COMPATIBILITY TESTS MUST BE CONDUCTED AT OUTSIDE LABORATORIES.