Solid-fuel rocket

Combustion

Dehydrogenation

Engineering

Aerospace engineering

Specific impulse

Ignition system

Catalysis

Organic chemistry

Chemistry

Metallurgy

Materials science

Solid fuel

Process engineering

Alloy

Fuel cells

Chemical engineering

Biochemistry

Hydrogen storage

Propellant

Hydrogen fuel

Chemical Engineering Journal

As a novel energetic material, aluminum hydride (AlH3) has attracted much attention because of its high hydrogen storage capacity and rapid dehydrogenation at low temperatures, which can be used as a promising energetic additive in solid propellants or in some other areas such as catalysts, fuel cell, and reducing agents. In particular, AlH3 as a component of solid propellant may largely promote the specific impulse of rocket engines and effectively reducing the erosion of engine nozzles. This review focuses on the research results in synthesis/regeneration, thermal decomposition, oxidation, ignition and combustion characteristics, and stabilization of AlH3 over the past decades. In particular, the stabilizing of AlH3 is essential for the its application in solid propellants, where the most widely used strategies have been introduced and compared, based on which some suggestions regarding possible future research directions are proposed.

Advanced preparation and processing techniques for high energy fuel AlH3