Thermal decomposition and combustion behavior of ion conductive PEO-PAN based energetic composites

Electrically controlled solid propellant (ECSP) is one promising solution for thrust adjustment and repeated ignition of conventional solid rocket motors (SRM). However, the widely studied ECSP based on hydroxylammonium nitrate (HAN) faces the problems of strong hygroscopicity and low thermal stability, which can lead to failure of ECSP. Inspired by polyethylene oxide-polyacrylonitrile (PEO-PAN) based solid polymer electrolyte, the new PEO-PAN based ion conductive energetic composites (ECs) have been designed and evaluated in this paper. The formulation was theoretically determined based on the energy content, and the samples were prepared by a conventional milling mixing method. The morphology, ionic conductivity, thermal reactivity, decomposition gaseous products and combustion behavior of these new ECs have been comprehensively studied. It has been shown that the initial decomposition temperature of PEO-PAN based ECs is around 243 °C with heat release of 1677.8–1873.9 J·g⁻¹ depending on the oxidizer and polymer content. Meanwhile, the dependences of the ionic conductivity on the burning rate are evaluated. The results showed that the burning rate decreases as ionic conductivity increases. One of these ECs has a high ionic conductivity with a low burning rate under pressure, which is suitable for controllable ECSP.