Microstructural and Sensitivity Changes of Neat, Spray-Dried RDX.

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Chemical Engineering
• Energetic Materials

Background:

• Spray drying is emerging for producing high explosives (HE) nanocomposites with controlled particle sizes.
• Limited data exists on spray-dried neat energetic materials.
• Understanding spray drying effects on RDX microstructure and sensitivity is crucial.

Purpose of the Study:

• To correlate spray drying parameters with RDX microstructure and handling sensitivity.
• To demonstrate control over particle size distribution, including nanopowders.
• To investigate physical and chemical alterations in RDX post-spray drying.

Main Methods:

• Spray drying of neat RDX.
• Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) for microstructure.
• X-ray diffraction (XRD) for phase analysis.
• Ultrahigh-performance liquid chromatography (UHPLC) for chemical analysis.
• Small-scale sensitivity tests.

Main Results:

• Spray drying enables fine-tuning of RDX particle size distributions, from nanopowders to larger sizes.
• Physical and chemical properties (phase, chemical composition) remain largely unchanged post-spray drying.
• Reduced RDX particle size did not follow typical energetic material desensitization trends.

Conclusions:

• Spray drying is a viable method for producing RDX with tailored particle sizes.
• The sensitivity of spray-dried RDX exhibits unique behavior compared to other energetic materials.
• Further research is needed to understand the anomalous sensitivity of nano-sized RDX.