The density functional tight-binding molecular dynamics approach was used to study the mechanisms and kinetics of initial pyrolysis and combustion reactions of isolated and multi-molecular FOX-7. Based on the thermal cleavage of bridge bonds, the pyrolysis process of FOX-7 can be divided into three stages. However, the combustion process can be divided into five decomposition stages, which is much more complex than the pyrolysis reactions. The vibrations in the mean temperature contain nodes signifying the formation of new products and thereby the transitions between the various stages in the pyrolysis and combustion processes. Activation energy and pre-exponential factor for the pyrolysis and combustion reactions of FOX-7 were obtained from the kinetic analysis. It is found that the activation energy of its pyrolysis and combustion reactions are very low, making both take place fast. Our simulations provide the first atomic-level look at the full dynamics of the complicated pyrolysis and combustion process of FOX-7.
Morphology, energetics and growth kinetics of diphenylalanine fibres
