Properties of Hydroxyl‐Terminal Polybutadiene (HTPB) and Its Use as a Liner and Binder for Composite Propellants: A Review of Recent Advances

Abstract

This paper reviews hydroxyl-terminal polybutadiene (HTPB) used as liner and binder for composite propellants, applied in rocket motors studied throughout the last decades, emphasizing the recent advances. The contribution aims to show the importance of HTPB in the propellant composition and on the liner coating of the rocket motor, which is in contact with the propellant grain. This paper also shows that many researchers have thoroughly studied several properties of HTPB, which are rele-vant to its role in liners and propellants. We have also reviewed analytical techniques such as Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) as a characterization technique for HTPB and HTPB-based polyurethanes. Reflection and transfectants FTIR may be a future trend in studies about polymeric matrices for liners and propellants, and in the area of propellant formulations that use energetic binders, graphene and nanomaterials.

Self‐Healing Polyurethane Binder with Catalytic Thermal Decomposition Property Based on Metal‐Ligand Interaction

“…Hydroxyl terminated Poly Butadiene based polyurethanes are widely used as binder in energetic formulations. However, being inert they do not contribute much towards thermal energy in the formulation [1–3] . HTPB based energetic composites are frequently subjected to different atmospheric conditions which make these binders more susceptible towards crack formation.…”

“…However, being inert they do not contribute much towards thermal energy in the formulation. [1][2][3] HTPB based energetic composites are frequently subjected to different atmospheric conditions which make these binders more susceptible towards crack formation. These cracks develop slowly and cannot be visually detected until they grow in large dimensions.…”

Molecular-Level Insights into the Improvement Mechanism of the Bonding Agent MAPO on the Mechanical Properties of the AP/HTPB-TDI Cross-Linked System

“…Among them, hydroxyl-terminated polybutadiene (HTPB) composite solid propellant is widely used in solid rockets, missiles, and spacecraft engines for its high specific impulse, density, and combustion rate. 4 The HTPB solid propellant mainly consists of a prepolymer (HTPB) as the binder and toluene diisocyanate (TDI) as the curing agent, mixed with a multiphase mixture of solid oxidizer and metal combustion agent. HTPB and TDI form a binder matrix by a cross-linking reaction to provide the basic shape of the solid propellant.…”

Energetic Polyoxetanes as High-Performance Binders for Energetic Composites: A Critical Review

“…Among various types of energetic materials, binders have found the greatest application in solid propellant and polymer-bonded explosive formulations [ 2 , 3 ]. A fairly narrow set of polymers ( Figure 1 a) is used as binders for the majority of solid propellant and polymer-bonded explosive formulations, despite the two types of energetic materials differing sharply in terms of their properties [ 4 , 5 ].…”