Phase stabilization of ammonium nitrate by double addition of potassium nitrate and melamine

Abstract

Methods for providing stabilization of ammonium nitrate and expanding the application field of this oxidizing agent in gas-generating compositions used for various purposes were sought for. The results of a study of the physicochemical properties of ammonium nitrate with a melamine–potassium nitrate double additive introduced by mechanical mixing and crystallization from an aqueous (nonaqueous) solution at the boiling point are presented. The phase diagrams of the ammonium nitrate–melamine and ammonium nitrate–melamine–potassium nitrate systems, based on the results of a differential-thermal analysis, demonstrated that a phase-stable ammonium nitrate can be formed by using the method of crystallization from an aqueous (nonaqueous) solution at the boiling point. The resulting samples were examined by IR spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction analysis, and a conclusion was made that a new thermodynamically stable phase can be formed in the system with individual additives, and the introduction of a double additive leads to a combined effect: a thermodynamically stable crystal structure is formed, with the simultaneous slowing down of the nucleation and growth of a new phase in the course of a phase transformation.