UNCLASSIFIED
UNCLASSIFIED
Distribution Statement A: Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited
1
Evaluation of Nanoenergetics Based Composition B
Philip Samuels,*
[a]
Erik Wrobel,
[a]
Victor Stepanov,
[a]
Rajen B. Patel,
[a]
Katherine H. Guarini,
[a]
Aleksander Gandzelko,
[a]
and Hongwei Qiu*
[b]
[a]
Philip Samuels,* E. Wrobel, V. Stepanov, R. B. Patel, K. H. Guarini, A. Gandzelko
U.S. Army, RDECOM-ARDEC,
Picatinny Arsenal, NJ 07806 (USA)
Email: Philip.j.samuels2.civ@mail.mil
[b]
H. Qiu*
Mission Operations & Infrastructure Protection Division
Leidos, Inc.
Picatinny Arsenal, NJ 07806 (USA)
Email: Hongwei.qiu@leidos.com
Abstract:
This paper discusses the preparation and evaluation of nanoenergetics-based
Composition B (N-Comp B) consisting of nanocrystalline RDX and TNT. The formulation was
prepared by compacting Comp B molding powder that was produced by spray drying an
acetone solution of RDX and TNT. The N-Comp B molding powder was characterized using
scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), differential scanning calorimetry
(DSC), and high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Its non-shock sensitivities were
evaluated in the safety tests (impact, friction, and electrostatic discharge). The nanostructure of
compacted N-Comp B was characterized by focused ion beam-scanning electron microscopy
(FIB-SEM) and the shock sensitivity was evaluated using small scale gap test (SSGT), which
shows that the majority of the voids in the formulation are in the nanoscale range, leading to a
reduction in shock sensitivity. However, when there is a large number density of voids, the
reduction seems to be limited. The addition of a polymeric binder during the spray drying
process mediated the compaction and is demonstrated as an effective method to reduce the
size and the number density of voids, leading to a 50% sensitivity reduction compared to melt-
cast Comp B. This work continues to demonstrate that the spray drying based materials
processing method is a facile and versatile method for producing high performance and low
sensitivity nanoenergetics-based explosives.
