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8165818 
Book/Book Chapter 
Chemical Propulsion of Microthrusters 
Shen, R; Ye, Y; Wang, C; Ru, C; Dai, J 
2018 
Elsevier 
Nanomaterials in Rocket Propulsion Systems 
389-402 
English 
Solid propellants used in microthrusters are the key energetic materials required to burn stably in microscale thruster chambers. Conventional propellants, such as hydroxyl-terminated polybutadiene/ammonium perchlorate, HMX-based propellant, RDX-based propellant, and glycidyl azide polymer propellant are not suitable for microthrusters since their critical burning diameters are too large to burn stably in microscale chambers. Nanothermite-based propellants are useful propellants for microthrusters. The propellants consist of a thermite and a gas-generating substance, in which nano-Al/CuO and nitrocellulose are the best substances for solid propellant. Thermite-based propellants can be synthesized or prepared by ultrasonic mixing, electrospray mixing, and the sol-gel process, in which the sol-gel process is the best to synthesize homogeneous thermite-based composites. The research results show that thermite-based propellant is suitable for the microscale chambers of microthrusters, but the energy efficiency of the thermite-based propellant is very low in microthrusters, whose specific impulse is lower than 30. s. How to improve the efficiency of energy is a key technology of nanothermite-based propellant and microthrusters for the future. © 2019 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.. 
Al/CuO/NC; Microthruster; Nanothermite; Performance; Synthesis; Thermite-based propellant