The high-pressure phase stability of 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene (TNT)

Abstract

2,4,6-trinitrotoluene (TNT) is a widely used explosive that is relatively insensitive to initiation by shock loading. While the detonation properties of TNT have been extensively reported, the high pressure-temperature (P-T) stability of TNT has not been investigated in detail. At ambient conditions, TNT crystallizes in a monoclinic lattice (space group P21/a), and our previous X-ray diffraction (XRD) measurements at room temperature suggested a phase transition to orthorhombic (space group Pca21) at ∼20 GPa. In this work, we have performed in-situ synchrotron XRD and vibrational spectroscopy measurements along the room temperature isotherm to investigate phase stabilities up to 18 GPa. While our Raman spectroscopy measurements indicate spectral changes at ∼2 GPa, careful XRD measurements reveal that the monoclinic phase persists up to 10 GPa. © Published under licence by IOP Publishing Ltd.