Editing T-Stoff

{{Short description|Hydrogen peroxide rocket propellant}}
{{for|the tear gas in World War I|Xylyl bromide}}
{{more citations needed|date=April 2018}}

'''T-Stoff''' ({{IPA|de|teː ʃtɔf|}}; 'substance T') was a stabilised [[high test peroxide]] used in [[Nazi Germany|Germany]] during [[World War II]]. T-Stoff was specified to contain 80% (occasionally 85%) [[hydrogen peroxide]] (H<sub>2</sub>O<sub>2</sub>), remainder water, with traces (<0.1%) of stabilisers. Stabilisers used included 0.0025% [[phosphoric acid]],<ref>German Liquid Rocket Fuels, www.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/122495.pdf page 5</ref> a mixture of phosphoric acid, [[trisodium phosphate|sodium phosphate]] and [[Oxyquinoline|8-oxyquinoline]],<ref>Botho Stüwe, [[Peenemünde]]-West, Bechtermünz-Verlag {{ISBN|3-8289-0294-4}}, 1998 page 220, German</ref> and [[sodium stannate]].<ref>John D Clarke, Ignition!. Rutgers University Press, {{ISBN|0-8135-0725-1}}, 1972 page 67</ref>

== Uses ==
The decomposition of T-Stoff into hot steam and oxygen caused by the addition of the catalyst [[Z-Stoff]] (an aqueous solution of [[permanganate]]s) was used to drive the split-tube steam catapults which launched the [[V-1 flying bomb]].<ref>S Zaloga, V-1 Flying Bomb 1942-52: Hitler's infamous "doodlebug". Osprey, {{ISBN|1-8490-8967-1}}, 2011 page 7</ref>

Similarly generated steam was used to drive the [[turbopump]] in the German [[V-2 rocket|V2]] rocket, and the pumps in several other rocket engines. The turbopump was used to transport fuel and oxidizer liquids under pressure to the rocket engine of the V2.<ref>[[Oberkommando des Heeres]] ed., Das Gerät A4 Baureihe B, Berlin 1945, German.</ref>

Another of T-Stoff's many uses was to be combined as the oxidizer, with [[C-Stoff]] ([[methanol]]–[[hydrazine]]–water mixture) as the fuel, in the [[bipropellant]] [[Walter HWK 109-509]] engine of the [[Messerschmitt Me 163]] and [[Messerschmitt Me 263]], at a ratio of approximately 3.1 parts T-Stoff oxidizer to one part C-Stoff fuel. Because the two substances were so visually similar, a complex testing system was developed to make sure that each propellant was put into the correct tanks of the Messerschmitt Me 163. This was because T-Stoff and C-Stoff are [[hypergolic]] propellants: they spontaneously ignite when mixed at normal temperatures. Even slight contamination between the T-Stoff oxidizer and the C-Stoff fuel was likely to cause an explosion.

Catalytic decomposition of T-Stoff by Z-Stoff was also used as a [[monopropellant]] in several "cold" [[Hellmuth Walter Kommanditgesellschaft|Walter]] rocket engines, including early versions of the engine for the Me 163A, and [[JATO|rocket-assisted takeoff]] pack engines like the [[Walter HWK 109-500]].

== Precautions ==
Because of its extreme oxidizing potential, T-Stoff was a very dangerous chemical to handle, so special rubberized suits were required when working with it, as it would react with most cloth, leather, or other combustible material and cause it to spontaneously combust. T-Stoff corroded [[iron]] and [[steel]], and thus had to be kept in [[aluminium]] tanks. Conversely,  [[C-Stoff]] ate through aluminium and had to be kept in [[glass]] or [[Vitreous enamel|enamel]]. T-Stoff containers were white, C-Stoff containers were yellow. The [[Tank truck|tanker trucks]] carrying T-Stoff and C-Stoff, clearly marked "T" and "C" were forbidden to come within 800 meters of each other.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Hollway|first=Don|title=BAT OUT OF HELL: The Me-163 Komet|url=http://www.donhollway.com/me-163/index.html|journal=Aviation History|volume=November 2017}}</ref>

==See also==
*[[Dinitrogen tetroxide]]
*[[List of stoffs]]

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

[[Category:Rocket oxidizers]]
[[Category:High-test peroxide]]
[[Category:German inventions of the Nazi period]]