Discovery made by scientists from Royal Institute of Technology (KTH), Sweden could make the future rocket engines work efficient by 20%-30%. Trinitramid, the name of the new molecule that may be a component in future rocket fuel.
"A rule of thumb is that for every ten-percent increase in efficiency for rocket fuel, the payload of the rocket can double. What's more, the molecule consists only of nitrogen and oxygen, which would make the rocket fuel environmentally friendly. This is more than can be said of today's solid rocket fuels, which entail the emission of the equivalent of 550 tons of concentrated hydrochloric acid for each launch of the space shuttle," says Tore Brinck, professor of physical chemistry at KTH.
With his research team, Brinck he discovered a new molecule in the nitrogen oxide group. It was while the scientists were studying the breakdown of another compound, using quantum chemistry computations, that they understood that the new molecule could be stable.
The research team, consisting of Martin Rahm and Sergey Dvinshikh as well as Professor Istvan Furó , besides Tore Brinck, has now shown how the molecule can be produced and analyzed. The scientists have also managed to produce enough of the compound in a test tube for it to be detectable.
The findings are now being published in the respected journal Angewandte Chemie International Edition.
Provided by Swedish Research Council.
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