%0 Journal Article %A Kitagawa, Koki %A Joseph, Paul %A Novozhilov, Vasily %A Shimada, Toru %D 2012 %I Begell House %K hybrid rocket, copolymerization, grafting, thermogravimetric analysis, Kissinger method, activation energy, degradation %N 6 %P 549-566 %R 10.1615/IntJEnergeticMaterialsChemProp.2013005406 %T CHARACTERISTICS OF CHEMICALLY MODIFIED AND NANOCOMPOSITE POLYMERS AS NOVEL FUELS FOR HYBRID ROCKET PROPULSION %U https://www.dl.begellhouse.com/journals/17bbb47e377ce023,394475674cc61f9f,0d47900b2b5c2148.html %V 11 %X With a view to investigating the effect of Si on the fuel regression rates, polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) and polypropylene (PP) containing Si were made, and the relevant thermal data regarding the fuel regression rates were obtained. Also, thermogravimetric analyses of PP, PMMA, and chemically modified versions of these with Si-containing groups were carried out with different heating rates in a N2 flow. The activation energies and the pre-exponential factors were estimated by the Kissinger method. Assuming these substrates as fuels in a hybrid rocket engine, the degradation rates of the samples at the typical temperature of the fuel surface in the hybrid rocket engine were estimated. The degradation rates of Si-containing polymers were found to be higher than those of the corresponding homopolymers. The results showed that incorporatig Si-containing groups into homopolymers has an effect of increasing the degradation rates. %8 2013-05-20