Preparation and Properties of RDX-Nitrocellulose Microspheres

A new insensitive explosive based on RDX and with Nitrocellulose (NC) as binder has been prepared using a flash vaporization process. Scanning electron microscopy was used to characterize the morphology and particle size of the resulting RDX-NC microspheres. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, Differential Scanning Calorimetry, impact sensitivity, vacuum stability and burning rate of raw RDX, RDX-NC and RDX-1 were also used to characterize the explosive. The RDX-NC microspheres were found to have a fibrous surface. The microspheres ranged in size from 0.5 μm to 4 μm. The NC formed a coat on the surface of the RDX. The activation energies of raw RDX, RDX-1 and RDX-NC were found to be 200.8 kJ·mol−1, 183.9 kJ·mol−1 and 187.2 kJ·mol−1, respectively. The drop heights of raw RDX, RDX-1 and RDX-NC were found to be 21.3 cm, 51.7 cm and 82.9 cm, respectively. The friction sensitivity of RDX-NC was lower than that of raw RDX and RDX-1. In the vacuum stability test, the volumes of evolved gas from raw RDX, RDX-1 and RDX-NC were 0.12 mL·g−1, 0.12 mL·g−1, and 0.09 mL·g−1, respectively. The burning rates of RDX-NC-based propellants were higher than that of RDX-1 and raw RDX based propellants at 5-15 MPa. The burning rate pressure exponent of RDX-NC based propellants is 0.9929 at 40-200 MPa.