Anti-aging performance improvement and enhanced combustion efficiency of boron via the coating of PDA

Boron is an ambitious fuel in energetic materials since its high heat release values,but its application is prohibited by low combustion efficiency and oxidization during storage.The polydopamine(PDA)was introduced into boron particles,investigating the impact of PDA content on the energetic behavior of boron.The results indicated that the PDA coating formed a fishing net structure on the surface of boron particles.The heat release results showed that the combustion calorific value of B@PDA was higher than that of the raw boron.Specifically,the actual combustion heat of boron powder in B@10%PDA increased by 38.08%.Meanwhile,the DSC peak temperature decreased by 100.65℃under similar oxidation rate compared to raw boron.Simultaneously,the B@PDA@AP and B@AP composites were prepared,and their combustion properties were evaluated.It was demonstrated that B@10%PDA@AP exhibited superior performance in terms of peak pressure and burning time,respectively.The peak pressure is 12.43 kPa more than B@AP and burning time is 2.22 times higher than B@AP.Therefore,the coating of PDA effectively inhibits the oxidization of boron during storage and enhances the energetic behavior of boron and corresponding composites.

Oxidation characteristics of boron particles

The oxidation characteristics of boron particles, boron-A with the diameter of 2.545 μm and boron-B with the diameter of 10.638 μm, at low temperature（1500 K） have been investigated by thermogravimetry（TG） coupled with simultaneous differential scanning calorimetry（DSC）, infrared and mass spectra. A rapid oxidation stage of boron particles, followed by a slow oxidation stage of sintered particles, is found from the TG and DSC curves. The onset temperatures of the oxidation process of boron-A particles are in the range of 806–889 K, which are at least 105 K lower than those of boron-B at the same condition. As the partial pressure of oxygen increases from 5% to 35%, the onset temperature of boron-A or boron-B particles decreases. However, when the partial pressure of oxygen is above 35%, the onset temperature becomes constant, implying a saturation effect of oxygen on the reaction rate. It indicates that the chemical adsorption of oxygen, i.e. chemical reaction, on the particle surface is the rate-limited step at the beginning of the rapid oxidation stage. Therefore, the first-order chemical reaction model is used to simulate the oxidation of boron particles, even that of the sinter. The average activation energies of the particles are 291.3 kJ/mol for boron-A and 338.4 k J/mol for boron-B. While the average activation energies of the sintered particles are 36.35 k J/mol for boron-A and 31.87 kJ/mol for boron-B. The pre-exponential factor of the particles is -10^4, while that of the sinter is 10^-1. The oxidation rate constant of boron is qualitatively mainly affected by the specific surface of the sample and the thickness of the oxide layer.