Sol-gel synthesis of nanocomposite crystalline HMX/AP coated by resorcinol-formaldehyde

This work aims to improve the performance of composite explosive by using the sol-gel method to mix high explosive and oxidizer in nanoscale. Nanocomposite materials of HMX and AP were prepared by using resorcinol-formaldehyde (RF) as binder. Its structure was characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), BET method, X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), and DSC. SEM images indicate that HMX/AP/RF aerogel has a laminate-like structure with uniform pores. The XRD results show that the mean crystal size of HMX is less than 100 nm; HMX and AP are mixed uniformly in nanoscale. The specific surface area of HMX/AP/RF is 27 m²/g and much less than that of RF aerogel. The mesopores and micropores of HMX/AP/RF aerogel mainly focus in the range of 2-20 and 0.6-1.6 nm, respectively. DSC analysis indicates that the thermal decomposition temperature of HMX/AP/RF is reduced compared to that of original HMX.