Issue 88, 2015

Imidazolium based energetic ionic liquids for monopropellant applications: a theoretical study

Abstract

A large variety of 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium ([EMIm]+) based energetic ionic liquids (ILs) have been studied via their ion pair ([EMIm]+[X]) formation using high accuracy G3MP2 method and density functional theory (DFT) methods M06L, M05-2X, M06-2X and B3LYP. The selected X includes nitrogen rich derivatives of tetrazolate and triazolate, dinitramine, dicyanamide as well as conventional anions BF4 and PF6. The nitrogen enrichment in the system produces energetic ionic liquids (EILs) which showed comparable and in some cases superior thermochemical, fluid and specific impulse (Isp) properties than conventional ionic liquids. The binding energy values for [EMIm]+[X] are in the range 336–400 kJ mol−1 at DFT levels while the atomization procedure used to compute their heat of formation (ΔfH°) at the G3MP2 level produced results in very close agreement with available experimental data (maximum deviation < 5%). The ΔfH° of conventional ILs is negative whereas that of EILs (167–559 kJ mol−1) confirmed their high energy state. The predicted Isp of all EILs are slightly lower compared to hydrazine in monopropellant systems whereas a significant increase in Isp is observed with the addition of hydroxyl ammonium nitrate (HAN). A good linear correlation between Isp and the wt% of (N + O) content of the EIL is also observed. Our results suggest that imidazolium based energetic ionic liquids have attractive thermochemical properties for use as green substitutes to hazardous hydrazine for monopropellant application in spacecraft technology.

Graphical abstract: Imidazolium based energetic ionic liquids for monopropellant applications: a theoretical study

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
21 May 2015
Accepted
18 Aug 2015
First published
18 Aug 2015

RSC Adv., 2015,5, 71896-71902

Author version available

Imidazolium based energetic ionic liquids for monopropellant applications: a theoretical study

E. Thomas, K. P. Vijayalakshmi and B. K. George, RSC Adv., 2015, 5, 71896 DOI: 10.1039/C5RA09578F

To request permission to reproduce material from this article, please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

If you are an author contributing to an RSC publication, you do not need to request permission provided correct acknowledgement is given.

If you are the author of this article, you do not need to request permission to reproduce figures and diagrams provided correct acknowledgement is given. If you want to reproduce the whole article in a third-party publication (excluding your thesis/dissertation for which permission is not required) please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Social activity

Spotlight

Advertisements