Research on the ablation characteristics and influencing factors of polytetrafluoroethylene doped with different carbon particles

In this study, polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) doped with different carbon particles was tested to explore new ways to improve pulsed plasma thruster (PPT) performance. Performance and mechanism experiments were conducted. The ablation characteristics and their affecting factors were analyzed. Experimental results show that the mass shot of modified propellants presents a segmentation phenomenon, which is mainly caused by the thermal diffusivity and the surface roughness of the propellant. PTFE doped with 2% nano-scale graphene showed the best efficiency. The electron density of PTFE doped with nano-scale carbon particles increased significantly because these dopants facilitate the generation of highly charged particles during plasma formation.