Regulating temperature sensitivity of low-molecular weight gellant in high-energy fuels via amino-mediated balancing of electrostatic and vdW interactions.

Low-molecular weight gellants incorporating strong electrostatic interaction groups such as hydroxyl groups exhibit limited thermal responsiveness, resulting in undesirable solubilization in high-energy fuels such as JP-10. In this study, by balancing electrostatic and van der Waals (vdW) interactions, a novel low-molecular weight gellant 1,1-bis(4-aminophenyl)cyclohexane (DN) featuring two terminal amino groups was synthesized. DN demonstrates outstanding gelation performance in JP-10, with a critical gelation concentration (CGC) of 1.2 wt%, and at this CGC, the dissolution temperature is only 64 °C, whereas traditional low-molecular weight gellants require dissolution temperatures exceeding 100 °C. Spectroscopic characterizations complemented by theoretical calculations reveal that DN molecules engage in pronounced intermolecular vdW forces while maintaining electrostatic interactions. Critically, the incorporation of amino groups enhances the temperature-sensitive vdW interactions, thereby improving the solubility of DN in JP-10. The resulting DN/JP-10 gelled fuel exhibits desirable shear-thinning characteristics and maintains structural integrity over 120 days storage. Further combustion test confirms that DN not only facilitates rapid ignition but also enhances combustion peak pressure of the fuel. The study may provide new insights into the low-temperature processing of efficient fuel gelation and the mechanism of the influence of weak interaction groups on the gelation.