Sonochemically assisted synthesis of nano HMX

Nanotechnology has played an influential role in improving the energetic content without subsiding the performance of high energy materials in the current era. In this work, HMX (octahydro-1,3,5,7-tetranitro-1,3,5,7-tetrazocine) nanoparticles were prepared by sonochemically assisted solvent-antisolvent spray technique focussing the reduction in its size so as to improve its energetic properties. In order to fabricate nano HMX various parameters such as different solvents and temperature were investigated. Sonication is one of the strategies recently explored in this regard; so time dependent study of sonication using probe sonicator was performed. It has been postulated that bubble formed during sonication when collapses generate high temperature and many nucleation sites which leads to the formation of uniform spherical particles with small size and fast transition phase. XRD studies depicted phase transformation from α to β as a result of sonication. The TEM images revealed that the rise in the sonication time resulted into decrease in the particle size from 300 to 10 nm. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) was employed to determine the heat release of the samples and enhancement in the heat release with the decrease in the particle size. A decrease in the spark sensitivity was observed from 2J (regular HMX) to 50 mJ (nano HMX).