The addition of antioxidants is normally adopted to improve the thermal oxidation stability of jet fuel, but the detailed antioxidation mechanism is still ambiguous. Herein, the inhibition of exo-tetrahydrodicyclopentadiene (the main component of JP-10) toward thermal oxidation and deposition by phenolic antioxidants (2,6-di-tert-butyl-4-methyphenol (BHT), 6-tert-butyl-2,4-dimethyphenol (TBDP), 2,6-di-tert-butylphenol (DTBP), 2-tert-butyl-4-methoxyphenol (BHA) and 2-tert-butyl-4-methylphenol (TBMP)) was investigated to reveal antioxidation mechanism and screen the best antioxidant for high-energy–density fuel. The theoretical and experimental results show that the addition of all phenolic antioxidants can significantly inhibit fuel oxidation and prolong the shelf life. Importantly, TBDP and TBMP show better performance than other antioxidants since they can scavenge more radicals per antioxidant molecule. However, antioxidants form dimer products via the addition between phenoxyl radicals and alkyl radicals during short-term thermal stress, which has a higher tendency to produce deposits. Consequently, the addition of phenolic antioxidants causes more severe deposition when jet fuel serves as the coolant in aircrafts. This work would guide the rational design of antioxidant for practical application in high-energy–density fuel.

通常通过添加抗氧化剂来提高喷气燃料的热氧化稳定性，但详细的抗氧化机理仍不明确。在此，抑制外-tetrahydrodicyclopentadiene朝向由酚类抗氧化剂（2,6-二-热氧化和淀积（JP-10的主要成分）叔丁基-4-甲基苯酚（BHT），6-叔丁基-2- ,4-二甲基苯酚 (TBDP)、2,6-二叔丁基苯酚(DTBP)、2-叔丁基-4-甲氧基苯酚 (BHA) 和 2-叔研究了-丁基-4-甲基苯酚（TBMP））以揭示抗氧化机制并筛选出用于高能量密度燃料的最佳抗氧化剂。理论和实验结果表明，全酚类抗氧剂的加入可以显着抑制燃料氧化，延长保质期。重要的是，TBDP 和 TBMP 表现出比其他抗氧化剂更好的性能，因为它们可以清除每个抗氧化剂分子中更多的自由基。然而，抗氧化剂通过形成二聚体产物苯氧基自由基和烷基自由基在短期热应力下的加成，有较高的产生沉积的倾向。因此，当喷气燃料用作飞机的冷却剂时，添加酚类抗氧化剂会导致更严重的沉积。这项工作将指导抗氧化剂在高能量密度燃料中的实际应用的合理设计。