A new nitrogen oxide

[Dr Mordrid]

Trinitramide: N(NO2)3, TNA, a newly discovered molecule that could increase the efficiency of rocket fuels by 20% - 30%, with each 10% increasing a rockets payload by double (!) It would also result in lower emissions - especially vs. the shuttle SRB's which dump >550 tons of hydrochloric acid per launch (ammonium perchlorate is the oxidizer)

Anyone care to guesz what this will do in explosives?

Discovered by KTH - the Royal Institute of Technology in Sweden.

[High_Jumbllama]

This all depends on whether or not they can produce it in adequate quantities.

[degrub]

probably double the specific impulse

and difficult to detect - the new PETN ?

[TransformX]

If it provides more bang for the buck, it will be produced.

[Brian Ellis]

Dunno why it's newly discovered. All the nitramides, mono- N(NO2)H2, di- N(NO2)2H and tri- N(NO2)3 have been known for donkey's years. They are all very unstable and will combust/explode spontaneously. The di- and tri- are almost impossible to produce except in very small quantities under lab conditions.

HCl is not the big problem with solid fuel propellants. The quantity of NOx is greater and much more polluting.

Could it be that they have found a co-produced stabiliser? If so, that could be important.

Citation
Structure and stability of trinitramide
J. A. Montgomery Jr., H. H. Michels
J. Phys. Chem., 1993, 97 (26), pp 6774–6775
DOI: 10.1021/j100128a005
Publication Date: July 1993

Hardly new!

[degrub]

according to Science Daily, the lab work and 2010 paper document the synthesis and detection of it in THF solvent (think PVC cement ).

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/12/101222071831.htm

Here is some of their supporting abstract -

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/store/10.1002/anie.201007047/asset/supinfo/anie_201007047_sm_miscellaneous_information.pdf?v=1&42236a1e