Diaminofurazan (DAF): Thermolysis and evaluation as ballistic modifier in double base propellant

Diaminofurazan (DAF) is used as a precursor in the synthesis of many high performance insensitive high explosives. This paper reports the thermal studies on DAF and its evaluation as a ballistic modifier in double base propellant formulations. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and differential thermal analysis (DTA) revealed that DAF shows two-stage decomposition, whereas the kinetics of initial stage of thermal decomposition of DAF evaluated from TG data gave activation energy (E(a)) of 67 kJ mol(-1). The evolution of gases containing species such as CN, NH, OH and oxides of nitrogen during thermal decomposition of DAF was also revealed by hyphenated TG-FTIR data. Evaluation of DAF as a ballistic modifier in RDX incorporated double base propellant formulations indicated that it brings down the pressure index to 0.20 compared to 0.70 for a control composition in the pressure range 6.9-8.8 MPa when used in combination with basic lead salicylate (BLS). It was observed that DAF does not have adverse effect on vulnerability and chemical stability of the propellant formulation.