Hydroxyl Terminated Polybutadiene: Chemical Modification and Application of these Modifiers in Propellants and Explosives

Hydroxyl terminated polybutadiene (HTPB) as a telechelic liquid polymer has been widely used in propellants and explosives and many modified-HTPBs have been reported in the literature. As a binder or additive in propellants and explosives, the chemical modification of HTPB for improving certain properties of propellants has been summarized in detail in this article. According to the application drawbacks of HTPB, modified-HTPB can be classified differently. Furthermore, there are polymers that have been modified on their energetic properties, such as GAP-PB-GAP, BAMO-PB-BAMO, AMMOPB-AMMO, Nitro-HTPB, HTPB-DNB and NHTPB. Pre-polymers modified on their combustion properties include Butacene®, FPDS-g-HTPB, Fc-HTPB, BiFc-g-HTPB, HTPB→[Fe(CO)3]x, PPA-HTPB-PPA and PNBE-HTPB-PNBE. HTPBs are also modified in curing systems containing, for example ETPB, PTPB, PrTPB, AzTPB, and PUPB, and other modification results are reviewed. Additionally, this overview is expected to provide an outlook for further studies in these fields.