Hong-Zhen Li

Synthesis, Characterization, Detonation Performance, and DFT Calculation of HMX/PNO Cocrystal Explosive

ABSTRACT A novel 1,3,5,7-tetranitro-1,3,5,7-tetrazocane (HMX)/pyridine-N-oxide (PNO) cocrystal at 1:1 molar ratio was synthesized by a solvent evaporation method, and its crystal structure was determined using X-ray diffraction (XRD). It crystallizes in the orthorhombic system with the Pbcn space group and cell parameters a = 12.712(3)Å, b = 9.315(3)Å, c = 12.909(3)Å. In addition, detonation performance of this cocrystal was estimated. The predicted detonation velocity and detonation pressure of this cocrystal are 7.47 km/s and 23.20 GPa, respectively, suggesting that it is less powerful than β-HMX. Finally, density functional theory, involving binding energy, atoms in molecule (AIM) theory, natural bond orbital (NBO) analysis, band structure, and density of states, was adopted to characterize the driving forces for the formation of this cocrystal. The results show that driving forces are dominated by the interactions between O atoms of PNO and methylene groups of HMX. It is expected that this research provides some bases for further HMX cocrystal design and preparation.

Theoretical Investigation of Pyridine Derivatives as High Energy Materials

In this work, properties of polynitro-bridged pyridine derivatives were systemically studied at the B3LYP/6-31G(d) level. Gas-phase heats of formation (HOFs) for the designed compounds were calculated using isodesmic reactions, and their solid-phase HOFs were estimated using the Politzer approach. All designed compounds possess large solid-phase HOFs, larger than 700 kJ/mol. Based on the predicted crystal densities, solid-phase HOFs, and chemical energies, detonation properties were evaluated by means of Kamlet-Jacobs empirical equations. The results show that detonation velocities and pressures of all of the designed compounds are above 9.30 km/s and 40.00 GPa, respectively. In addition, bond dissociation energy (BDE) was employed to investigate their thermal stability. Considering solid-phase HOFs, detonation performance, and thermal stability, most of the designed compounds meet the requirements of high energy density materials (HEDMs).

A DFT-D Study on Structural, Electronic, Thermodynamic, and Mechanical Properties of HMX/MPNO Cocrystal under High Pressure

ABSTRACT An investigation on the structural, electronic, thermodynamic, and mechanical properties of octahydro-1,3,5,7-tetranitro-1,3,5,7-tetrazocine (HMX)/2-methylpyridine-N-oxide (MPNO) cocrystal was carried out from 0 to 100 GPa by using a dispersion-corrected density functional theory (DFT-D) method. Our calculated crystal structure is in excellent agreement with experimental results at ambient pressure. Based on the analysis of lattice parameters, lattice angles, bond lengths, bond angles, and dihedral angles under high pressure, we observe that HMX molecules in the cocrystal bulk are seriously distorted but MPNO molecules remain relatively unchanged. Hydrogen bond lengths are greatly shortened under high pressure. In addition, with the increase in pressure, the bandgap decreases gradually. However, it increases suddenly at 70 GPa. Some important hydrogen bonds between HMX and MPNO are also observed in the density of states spectrum. According to the thermodynamic analysis, this cocrystal is more easily prepared under low pressure. Finally, we characterized its mechanical properties and the results show that this cocrystal is malleable in nature. We expect that this research can provide a fundamental basis for further HMX cocrystal design and preparation.