Experimental Study of the Crystal Habit of High Explosive Octahydro-1,3,5,7-tetranitro-1,3,5,7-tetrazocine (HMX) in Acetone and Dimethyl Sulfoxide
Lin Zhang, Mi Yan, Wenlong Yin, Jinshan Li, Yu Liu, Song Zhao, Shiliang Huang
Abstract
Crystal morphology has a significant effect on the properties and applications of energetic materials (EMs). Here, we have combined the single-crystal X-ray diffraction (SCXRD) and rotation imaging techniques to study the crystal habit of high explosive octahydro-1,3,5,7-tetranitro-1,3,5,7-tetrazocine (HMX) in different solvents. The Miller index and area of the exposed facets have been determined for the HMX crystals grown in acetone and dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO). For the crystals grown in acetone, the exposed facets have the morphology importance in the order of (011) > (110) > (020) > (101̅), while for those grown in DMSO the order is (011) ≈ (110) > (020) > (101) > (101̅). This indicates that DMSO can significantly decrease the growth rate of the (110) and (101) planes of the HMX crystal compared to acetone, which has not yet been reported. These results provide clear experimental evidence for the evaluation of the crystal morphology prediction of HMX by theoretical calculation and will be an important reference to the morphology control of EMs.