Design of conductive polymer coating layer for effective desensitization of energetic materials

• Published in: Chemical engineering journal (Lausanne, Switzerland : 1996) Switzerland : 1996), 2024-02, Vol.482, p.148874, Article 148874
• Main Authors: Wang, Junru, Liu, Dan, Zhang, Jianhu, Gong, Feiyan, Zhao, Xu, Yang, Zhijian
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Conductive polymer; Energetic materials; Low sensitivity; Phase-transition kinetics; Theoretical simulation
• ISSN: 1385-8947; 1873-3212
• DOI: 10.1016/j.cej.2024.148874

[Display omitted] •Theoretical simulation was employed to select suitable conductive polymers for coating.•Three HMX/conductive polymer based composites were facilely prepared by in-situ polymerization.•The synergistic desensitization of impact and electrostatic spark was obtained.•Improved thermal phase stability with sluggish phase-transition kinetics was confirmed. Safety performance under external stimuli plays a crucial role for energetic materials. Therefore, desensitization of high explosive arouses widespread research interests in the field of energetic materials. Nevertheless, synergistically reducing impact and electrostatic spark sensitivities of 1,3,5,7-tetranittro-1,3,5,7-tetrazocane (HMX) remains challenging. Herein, a novel strategy concerning conductive polymer coating was proposed to solve this issue. Theoretically, the polypyrrole (PPy) can form a complete shell and strong interaction with HMX crystals. The HMX@PPy composite has been successfully achieved by in-situ polymerization, exhibiting superior sensitivities (impact: from 7 J to 27.5 J and electrostatic spark: from 0.4 J to 1.68 J) among reported HMX-based energetic materials. In addition, the thermal phase stability of HMX can also be visibly improved with sluggish phase-transition kinetics by introducing PPy coating. The current study provides a design concept for high energy explosives with low sensitivity and improved comprehensive performances.