Core@Double-Shell Structured Energetic Composites with Reduced Sensitivity and Enhanced Mechanical Properties

A novel core@double-shell (CDS) 1,3,5,7-tetranitro-1,3,5,7-tetrazocane (HMX) based energetic composite was constructed with an inner nano-1,3,5-triamino-2,4,6-trinitrobenzene (nano-TATB) shell and outer polydopamine (PDA) shell fabricated via a facile ultrasonic method and a simple immersion method, respectively. The inner nano-TATB shell was chosen to reduce the sensitivity of HMX while maintaining explosion performance; the outer PDA shell was adopted to enhance the interfacial interaction between explosive crystals and polymer binder. The uniform PDA coating resulted in the increased β-δ phase transition temperature of HMX from 197.0 to 212.8 °C. Because of the perfect and compact nano-TATB coating on the surface of the HMX particles, the impact sensitivity  was significantly decreased for the HMX@TATB@PDA particles (10 J), in comparison with the physical mixture with an equivalent composition (5 J). Polymer-bonded explosives (PBXs) based on CDS structured particles were designed and characterized in comparison with their core@single-shell (CSS) counterparts or physical mixtures. Due to the strong chemical and physical interfacial interaction, PBXs based on CDS structured particles displayed improved mechanical strength and roughness, storage modulus, as well as creep resistance.