Significant enhancement mechanisms of graphene in laser-ignited combustion of B/KNO3/Phenolic resin

B/KNO 3 /Phenolic resin (BPN) is recognized for its high exothermic energy, superior ignition performance, and enhanced safety, qualifying it as an authorized pyrotechnic material for direct-contact configurations under current US military standards (MIL-STD-1901). However, compared to other ignition powders such as Zr-KClO 4 , BPN exhibits a slower burning rate. The burning rate of BPN was enhanced using doped graphene (GE), with energy release characteristics, morphology analysis, and combustion performance of BPN/GE studied comprehensively. The results showed that, compared with BPN, when the doping amount of GE is 0.8 wt%, the burning rate increased from 14.6 mm⋅s −1 to 20.3 mm s −1 , representing a significant increase of 39.0 %. Similarly, the combustion temperature increased from 2014 K to 2215 K, and the velocity of the jet flow captured by the schlieren system increased from 22.6 mm⋅s −1 to 25.9 mm s −1 . The activation energy decreased from 231 kJ⋅mol −1 to 226 kJ mol −1 . The analysis of the mechanism indicated that a small amount of GE was beneficial to heat transfer, thus increasing the burning rate. However, a large amount of GE would lead to a relative decrease in the quantity of boron (B), thereby suppressing the burning rate.This work achieves a substantially greater enhancement in BPN burning rates than previously reported methods, providing a viable pathway to mitigate the inherent combustion latency of BPN-based energetic systems. In this study, graphene (GE) was composited with the B/KNO 3 /PF (BPN) system. It was found that the combustion performance of BPN, including the burning rate and combustion temperature, was significantly improved at a GE doping amount of 0.8 wt%. Furthermore, by comparing the effect of GE and other burning rate catalysts on enhancing the burning rate of BPN, GE was found to have significant advantages, solving the problem of slow burning rate of BPN in applications. The combustion enhancement mechanism of GE was expounded from multiple aspects, such as the flame jet velocity captured by schlieren technology, combustion temperature, activation energy, and reaction mechanism, which broadens the application scope of BPN. • B/KNO 3 /Phenolic doped with graphene were designed. • The burning rate and combustion temperature of B/KNO 3 /PF with a graphene doping amount of 0.8 wt% reach the maximum. • The reaction mechanism of B/KNO 3 /PF under graphene doping has been analyzed. • The mechanism of graphene-enhanced combustion has been studied.