A search for alternative solid rocket propellant oxidizers

Abstract

Carbon-based caged and heterocyclic compounds tend to have strained molecular structures leading to high heats of formation and energetic behavior. In the current paper, molecular modelling calculations for 10 caged compounds of this type along with 2 strained aliphatic compounds and 4 simple cyclic chains are presented in view of their possible use as oxidizers in propulsion applications. Density functional theory (B3LYP) was employed for the geometry optimization of the proposed molecular structure using the 6-311++G(d,p) basis set. Heats of formation of the compounds were calculated using the molecular modeling results and their specific impulses were computed using the NASA CEA [1] software package to evaluate their potentials as propellant oxidizers.