Kinetics and topochemistry of the endothermic solid-state reaction of 2-(5-cyanotetrazolato) pentaamine cobalt(III) perchlorate

The thermal reactivity curve of the inorganic explosive 2-(5-cyanotetrazolato) pentaamine cobalt(III) perchlorate, CP, as determined by dynamic differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) is characteried by a solid-state endothermic transition partially overlapped by a more violent exothermic decomposition. This discusses the kinetics of the endothermic transition of CP determined under inert and reactive atmospheres and supplemental data obtained by x-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and photoacoustical spectroscopy (PAS). The kinetic data are discussed in light of possible solid-state reaction mechanisms. The consistency between theory and experiment, while not conclusive, suggests that nucleus growth may involve a concerted loss of the nitrile moiety and elimination of either NH/sub 3/ or H/sub 2/O. Such an effect would certainly be consistent with a random surface nucleation mechanism and would account for the spectra perturbations observed in the IR spectra.