Synthesis of Energetic Materials by Rapid Expansion of a Supercritical Solution into Aqueous Solution (RESS-AS) Process
Abstract
Energetic crystalline nanoparticles have many benefits when incorporated into a propellant or explosive. They have been shown to be less sensitive to impact and can also change the energetic performance of a propellant or explosive. In this study, two processes are investigated and compared for producing nano-scale energetic oxidizer particles. Rapid Expansion of a Supercritical Solution (RESS) was investigated and a similar process called the Rapid Expansion of a Supercritical Solution into an Aqueous Solution (RESS-AS) process was used to produce RDX and bis(2,2,2-trinitroethyl)-3,6- diaminotetrazine (BTAT) particles. For similar pre-expansion conditions, the RESS process produced RDX particles with an average size of approximately 100 nm and the RESS-AS process produced RDX particles with an average size of 30 nm. The small RDX particles were able to be coated and stabilized from permanent agglomeration in the RESS-AS process with polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) and polyethylenimine (PEI). The energetic material BTAT was produced initially in Germany and reprocessed first by the RESS process and nearly spherical particles of around 100 nm were created that were agglomerated. Later, BTAT particles were produced by the RESS-AS process by expanding into an aqueous solution of SDS and water produced small nano-sized rods (width and height around 100 nm) without agglomeration. The synthesized RDX particles were tested in a TGA/DSC and it was found that RESS synthesized RDX experienced nearly no temperature shift in its melting and decomposition temperature in comparison to larger micron-sized RDX. However, the RESS-AS synthesized RDX particles experience a decomposition exotherm about 25 C below the value for conventional RDX. The lowered melting point suggests that RESS-AS synthesized RDX particles have different thermodynamic properties that should be investigated particles is the ability of storing extra energy on their surface and/or due the high percentage
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Dec 02, 2010
- Accession Number
- ADA544674
Entities
People
- Andrew C. Cortopassi
- Christopher G. Leh
- James H. Adair
- Jonathan T. Essel
- Kenneth K. Kuo
- Thomas M. Klapoetke
Organizations
- Pennsylvania State University