Improvement of energy density and thermodynamic properties of aluminum powder by assembling 5-aminotetrazole with high enthalpy on the surface layer of aluminum powder

5-Aminotetrazole (ATZ) has a high nitrogen content (82.3%) and low sensibility, which effectively reduces the gas molecular weight of the propellant and is expected to increase the specific impulse of the propellant. Herein, Al/ATZ-Cu metastable intermolecular composites (MICs) were prepared by self-assembly reaction between ATZ and copper ions. The micromorphology and the surface composition of Al/ATZ-Cu were characterized by scanning electron microscope (SEM), Fourier transform infrared spectrometer (FTIR), and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The results show that the ATZ-Cu layer can be uniformly encapsulated on the surface of the aluminum powder. The thermal reactivity of Al/ATZ-Cu has also been investigated in detail. The thermal decomposition of ATZ-Cu can effectively promote the oxidation reaction of Al powder so that the Al can undergo a pre-ignition reaction below the melting point of Al. In addition, possible reaction mechanisms of Al/ATZ-Cu are discussed in detail.