HNF
Encyclopedia
Hydrazinium nitroformate (HNF) is a salt of the hydrazinium ion
Hydrazine
Hydrazine is an inorganic compound with the formula N2H4. It is a colourless flammable liquid with an ammonia-like odor. Hydrazine is highly toxic and dangerously unstable unless handled in solution. Approximately 260,000 tons are manufactured annually...

 (N2H5+) and nitroformate anion (C(NO2)3-). It is an energetic oxidizer, and is soluble in most solvents. Research is being conducted at ESA
European Space Agency
The European Space Agency , established in 1975, is an intergovernmental organisation dedicated to the exploration of space, currently with 18 member states...

, to investigate its use in solid rocket propellant
Rocket propellant
Rocket propellant is mass that is stored in some form of propellant tank, prior to being used as the propulsive mass that is ejected from a rocket engine in the form of a fluid jet to produce thrust. A fuel propellant is often burned with an oxidizer propellant to produce large volumes of very hot...

s. It tends to produce propellants which burn very rapidly and with very high combustion efficiency. Its high energy leads to high specific impulse
Specific impulse
Specific impulse is a way to describe the efficiency of rocket and jet engines. It represents the derivative of the impulse with respect to amount of propellant used, i.e., the thrust divided by the amount of propellant used per unit time. If the "amount" of propellant is given in terms of mass ,...

propellants. It is currently an expensive research chemical available only in limited quantities. A disadvantage of HNF is its limited thermal stability.

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