Formation of highly porous materials in the combustion wave of systems based on 5-aminotetrazole with potassium perchlorate

The formation of highly porous materials in the combustion wave of mixtures of 5-aminotetrazole with potassium perchlorate is studied. Under normal conditions with an oxidizer deficiency, the combustion of such mixtures proceeds in an unsteady oscillatory regime with formation of condensed products of incomplete oxidation of 5-aminotetrazole. It is shown that in the presence of metallic iron or its oxide, the completeness of interaction of the mixture components increases sharply and combustion becomes steady-state. In the presence of silicon dioxide, a highly porous solid residue forms which retains the shape of the initial block. At a certain ratio of iron and silicon dioxide in the initial composition, the solid combustion products have the form of interwoven thin fibers about 1 µm in diameter and 10–30 µm long.__________Translated from Fizika Goreniya i Vzryva, Vol. 41, No. 2, pp. 75–80, March–April, 2005.