Series of Azido and Fused-Tetrazole Explosives: Combining Good Thermal Stability and Low Sensitivity
Caijin Lei, Hongwei Yang, Qinghua Zhang, Guangbin Cheng
Abstract
The introduction of azido groups into the energetic skeleton has the advantages of increasing the energy level. In this work, a series of azido compounds with good stability and low sensitivity as well as tetrazole-fused compounds based on energetic salts are synthesized. The detonation pressures and velocities of these new compounds fall in the ranges of 18.9–27.3 GPa and 7153–8450 m s –1, respectively. The detonation velocity of the tetrazole-fused compounds based on the potassium salts 3, 6, and 7 are 7810, 7153, and 7989 m s –1, respectively. Also, their decomposition temperatures (244, 237, and 240 °C, respectively) are higher than that of traditional explosive RDX (204 °C). Notably, two representative compounds 2 and 5 possess higher decomposition temperature ( 2: 196 °C and 5: 178 °C) and overall detonation properties ( 2: D = 8129 m s –1 and P = 26.6 GPa and 5: D = 8336 m s –1 and P = 27.3 GPa) as well as relativity lower sensitivities ( 2: IS = 12 J and FS = 240 N and 5: IS = 10 J and FS = 144 N) than that of primary explosive 2-diazo-4,6-dinitrophenol ( T d = 157 °C, D = 6900 m s –1, P = 24.7 GPa, IS = 1 J, and FS = 24.7 N). Moreover, the initiation capacity of compounds 2 and 5 was also assessed through the initiation tests. The results indicate that the two compounds could be a promising environmentally friendly primary explosive.