Vacuum Ultraviolet Photoionization Study on the Decomposition of JP-10 (exo-Tetrahydrodicyclopentadiene) in a High-Temperature Chemical Reactor: Product Identification and Branching Ratios

Abstract

Exploiting a high-temperature chemical reactor, we explored the pyrolysis of helium-seeded tricyclo[5.2.1.02,6]decane (exo-tetrahydrodicyclopentadiene) as the principal constituent of Jet Propellant-10 (JP-10) over a temperature range of 1,100 K to 1,600 K at a pressure of 600 Torr. The nascent products were identified in situ in a supersonic molecular beam via single-photon vacuum ultraviolet photoionization coupled with a mass spectroscopic analysis of the ions in a reflectron time-of-flight mass spectrometer (ReTOF).