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High‐resolution Raman Spectroscopy for the Nanostructural Characterization of Explosive Nanodiamond Precursors
Author(s) -
DeckertGaudig Tanja,
Pichot Vincent,
Spitzer Denis,
Deckert Volker
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
chemphyschem
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.016
H-Index - 140
eISSN - 1439-7641
pISSN - 1439-4235
DOI - 10.1002/cphc.201601276
Subject(s) - raman spectroscopy , detonation , explosive material , nanodiamond , characterization (materials science) , materials science , nanotechnology , trinitrotoluene , nanometre , diamond , nanoscopic scale , spectroscopy , chemical engineering , chemistry , organic chemistry , composite material , optics , physics , engineering , quantum mechanics
The specific attributes of nanodiamonds have attracted increasing interest for electronics or biomedical applications. An efficient synthetic route towards nanodiamonds is via detonation of hexolite (i.e. a mixture of TNT [2,4,6‐trinitrotoluene] and RDX [1,3,5‐trinitro‐1,3,5‐triazine]). In particular, detonation of hexolite crystallized by spray flash evaporation (SFE) yields extremely small diamonds (<4 nm). To unravel the detonation mechanism, a structural characterization of the explosives is required but is challenging due to their thermal instability. We demonstrate a combination of conventional Raman spectroscopy and tip‐enhanced Raman spectroscopy (TERS) for resolving morphological and structural differences of differently prepared hexolite nanocomposites. The experiments allow for the first time a structural differentiation of individual TNT and RDX crystals and 15–20 nm sized core–shell structures, consequently providing a general approach to investigate the actual composition of mixtures on the nanometer scale.