Sol–gel synthesis of nanocomposite crystalline HMX/AP coated by resorcinol–formaldehyde Original Research Article

This work aims to improve the performance of composite explosive by using the sol–gel method to mix high explosive and oxidizer in nanoscale. Nanocomposite materials of HMX and AP were prepared by using resorcinol–formaldehyde (RF) as binder. Its structure was characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), BET method, X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), and DSC. SEM images indicate that HMX/AP/RF aerogel has a laminate-like structure with uniform pores. The XRD results show that the mean crystal size of HMX is less than 100 nm; HMX and AP are mixed uniformly in nanoscale. The specific surface area of HMX/AP/RF is 27 m2/g and much less than that of RF aerogel. The mesopores and micropores of HMX/AP/RF aerogel mainly focus in the range of 2–20 and 0.6–1.6 nm, respectively. DSC analysis indicates that the thermal decomposition temperature of HMX/AP/RF is reduced compared to that of original HMX.