Abstract: The kinetic behaviour of the exothermic decomposition reaction and the specific heat capacity of N-guanylurea dinitramide (GUDN) were determined by DSC and mircocalorimeter. Its kinetic parameters of the major exothermic decomposition reaction in a temperature-programmed mode [the apparent activation energy (Ea) and pre-exponential factor (A)], self-accelerating decomposition temperature (TSADT), time to maximum rate (tTMrad), and time-to-ignition (tTIad) under adiabatic conditions were calculated. The results showed that under non-isothermal DSCconditions, the thermal decomposition of GUDN could be described by the empiric-order autocatalytic equation: dα/dt=10^18.49exp(-195500/RT)(1-α)^0.81+10^18.00exp (-177000/RT)α^1.29 (1-α)0.71, and the value of the critical rate of temperature rise in GUDN was 0.1236 K·h-1 when the decomposition reaction converted into thermal explosion. The values of TSADT, tTMRad, and tTIad were 473.95 K, 2.24 s, and 3.51 s, respectively.

Key words: GUDN, Autocatalytic decomposition, Kinetic parameters, Critical rate of temperature rise, Thermal explosion, Non-isothermal DSC