Progress in high-nitrogen chemistry in explosives, propellants and pyrotechnics

Abstract

A new approach for development of high-nitrogen energetic materials, esp. for development of insensitive explosives, low-smoke pyrotechnics and solid propellant components, was to focus on compds. with large pos. heats of formation, specifically tetrazine, furazan, and tetrazole ring systems. A large no. of candidate compds., including org. and inorg. salts, were prepd. and evaluated with respect to insensitivity to detonation (e.g., spark, impact, and friction sensitivities), detonation velocity and pressure, detonation performance, flame color for pyrotechnics, combustion rate and combustion appearance, DTA, thermal stability, and heat of formation. For example, 4,4'-diamino-3,3'-azoxyfurazan and 4,4'-diamino-3,3'-azofurazan (I) could not be initiated by lab. impact drop tests, yet they have better explosive performances than TATB, and I has a thermal stability equal to that of hexanitrostilbene. A compd. effective as a low-smoke pyrotechnic is 3,6-dihydrazino-s-triazine. Two tetrazine derivs., 3,6-bis(1H-1,2,3,4-tetrazol-5ylamino)-s-tetrazine and 3,3'-azobis(6-amino-s-tetrazole), have large pos. heats of formation was were fairly insensitive to impact. [on SciFinder(R)]