RESUMEN
We present a first-principles computational study to understand the action of lead and copper-based ballistic modifiers in the combustion of double-base propellants (DBPs). We show that lead oxide clusters are easily broken down upon addition of small amounts of carbon and the resulting graphitic matrix, dispersed with weakly bound and exposed Pb sites, acts as a Lewis acid to bind small molecule Lewis bases such as NO2 and CH2O that form in the combustion flame. This accounts for super-rate burning, where the fuel burn rate is enhanced. We also show how carbon availability accounts for the plateau- and mesa-rate burning effects, where the fuel burn rate is suppressed. In contrast, cluster integrity on binding carbon to copper oxide is retained, and interaction with NO2 and CH2O is essentially negligible. Carbon binds more strongly to copper oxide, however, and we therefore propose that when carbon levels start to fall this results in the lead oxide clusters being starved of carbon, which leads to plateau and mesa burning. Taken together, the calculations support a general model that accounts for the super-, plateau- and mesa-rate ballistic modifier burning effects.
RESUMEN
ROY is one of the most well-studied families of crystal structures owing to it being the most polymorphic organic material on record. The various red, orange, and yellow colours of its crystal structures are widely-believed to originate from molecular conformation, though the orange needle (ON) polymorph is thought to be an exception. We report high-pressure, single-crystal X-ray measurements which provide direct experimental evidence that the colour origin in ON is intermolecular, revealing that the molecule undergoes minimal deformation but still exhibits a pronounced, reversible, pale orange â dark red colour change between ambient pressure and 4.18 GPa. Our experimental data are rationalised with band structures, calculated using an accurate hybrid DFT approach, where we are able to account for the variation in colour for five polymorphs of ROY. We highlight the outlier behaviour of ON which shows marked πâ¯π stacking interactions that are directly modified through application of pressure. Band structure calculations confirm these intermolecular interactions as the origin of the colour change.
RESUMEN
Lead-based ballistic modifiers are additives in double base propellants (DBPs) which render the burn rate insensitive to changes in pressure within a defined pressure range, thus imparting greater control of combustion conditions. In-coming European legislation will soon ban the use of lead in propellant formulations, however, and few suitable candidate replacement materials are currently available. In an effort to understand better the unique properties offered by lead-based modifiers, we present a first-principles computational study on Pb, PbO, PbO2, SnO2 and Bi2O3, all of which have been investigated experimentally as ballistic modifier materials. Our study demonstrates that various quantifiable properties exist for the lead-based materials. Overall, they have narrower electronic band gaps, lower surface energies and lower surface work functions than the lead-free systems, indicating a greater propensity to form stable chemical surfaces with higher catalytic activity. We also show that of the set, only Pb and α-PbO can support the formation of a weakly bound layer of amorphous carbon, a key experimental observable in the burning of DBPs.
RESUMEN
Despite possessing the desirable crystal packing and short PtPt stacking distances required for a large piezoresistive response, the conductivity-pressure response of the Magnus green salt [Pt(NH3)4][PtCl4] is extremely sluggish. Through a combination of high-pressure X-ray diffraction and hybrid-DFT solid state calculations this study demonstrates that the poor conductivity-pressure response is due to a low volumetric compression anisotropy, a relatively large ambient pressure band gap and a lack of dispersion in the conduction band. Ligand modification (from NH3 to NH2CH3) does not enhance the piezoresistive response, causing even lower anisotropy of the volumetric compression and an unexpected phase transition at above 2 GPa. This study demonstrates that consideration of frontier band dispersion is a key design criterion, alongside crystal packing and PtPt stacking distances, for piezoresistive materials.
