Equation of State Measurements of Detonation Soots Using Optical Microscopy and Interferometry

Optical Microscopy and Interferometry (OMI) is a versatile technique that can be used to measure the high pressure equation of state (EOS) of materials which cannot be measured by other means, i.e. XRD. The OMI technique is a direct volume measurement of a pressed sample pellet in a diamond anvil cell, which does not rely on a crystal structure measurement. This study features determination of the static EOS of detonation products (soot) from several explosives measured in DAC experiments for the first time. These soots can have a range of compositions from nanodiamond-rich to highly graphitic or amorphous and, depending on the explosive and detonation conditions. Our findings determine a correlation between chemical composition and compressibility of these soots and provide EOS parameters to inform thermochemical models of detonation. A comparison of EOS behavior to established soot EOS models will be discussed in addition to comparison of experimentally determined EOS behavior of several soot materials.