Preparation and property of CL-20/BAMO-THF energetic nanocomposites

Abstract A sol-gel freezing-drying method was utilized to prepare energetic nanocomposites based on 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12-hexanitro-2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12-hexaazaisowurtzitane (CL-20) with 3, 3-Bis (azidomethyl) oxetane-tetrahydrofuran copolymer (BAMO-THF) as energetic gel matrix. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Raman, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) and differential thermal analyser (DTA) were utilized to characterize the structure and property of the resultant energetic nanocomposites. Compared with raw CL-20, the average particle sizes of CL-20 in CL-20/BAMO-THF energetic nanocomposites were decreased to nano scale and the morphologies of CL-20 were also changed from prismatic to spherical. FT-IR detection revealed that CL-20 particles were recrystallized in BAMO-THF gel matrix during the freezing-drying process. The thermal decomposition behaviors of the energetic nanocomposites were investigated as well. The thermolysis process of CL-20/BAMO-THF nanocomposites was enhanced and the activation energy was lower compared with that of raw CL-20, indicating that CL-20/BAMO-THF nanocomposites showed high thermolysis activity. The impact sensitivity tests indicated that CL-20/BAMO-THF energetic nanocomposites presented low sensitivity performance.