o-Carborane based and atomically-precise metal clusters as hypergolic materials.

Atomically-precise o-carboranealkynyl-protected clusters [Ag14(C4B10H11)12(CH3CN)2]•2NO3- (CBA-Ag) and [Cu6Ag8(C4B10H11)12Cl]NO3- (CBA-CuAg) have been found to exhibit hypergolic activity, such that they are capable of spontaneous ignition and combustion upon contact with the white fuming nitric acid oxidizer. In particular, CBA-CuAg has a short ignition delay time of 15 ms, whereas the o-carboranealkynyl ligand is hypergolically inert. Systematic investigation revealed that the metal cluster-core catalyzed the hypergolic behavior of inert o-carboranealkynyl ligand, and Cu-doping further accelerated combustion catalysis. This work provides a new prospective in the rational design of novel metal cluster-based hypergolic materials for propellant application.

原子精确的邻碳硼烷炔基保护的团簇[Ag₁₄(C₄B₁₀H₁₁)₁₂(CH₃CN)₂]•2NO₃⁻（CBA - Ag）和[Cu₆Ag₈(C₄B₁₀H₁₁)₁₂Cl]NO₃⁻（CBA - CuAg）已被发现具有自燃活性，即它们在与发烟硝酸氧化剂接触时能够自燃和燃烧。特别是，CBA - CuAg的点火延迟时间短至15毫秒，而邻碳硼烷炔基配体是自燃惰性的。系统研究表明，金属团簇核催化了惰性邻碳硼烷炔基配体的自燃行为，并且铜掺杂进一步加速了燃烧催化。这项工作为合理设计用于推进剂应用的新型金属团簇基自燃材料提供了新的前景。