A Bond Centered Approach to Energetic Performance and Sensitivity

Handling sensitivity, as measured by the drop-weight impact apparatus, is frequently

utilized to establish safety characteristics for new explosives. Despite decades of research

investigating handling sensitivity properties for energetics, it is still difficult to determine what

molecular properties are most critical. In this presentation we discuss trends in impact

sensitivity will be discussed with respect to energetic functional groups and overall molecular

bonding. Specifically, a series of over 230 nitrate esters and alkyl nitro energetics were analyzed

for the atomic connectivity of the energetic functional group. Primary nitrate esters were found

to be less sensitive than secondary, likely a reflection of the weaker trigger linkage in secondary

carbons. This trend is less pronounced in C-Nitro energetics, owing to the strong C-NO2 linkage.

To examine the impact of non-energetic functional groups, a new parameter encompassing all

of a molecule’s bonds, the average bond strength, was calculated for 50 energetics of all

classes. A strong trend between increasing average bond strength and decreasing sensitivity is

observed. Finally, measured sensitivity data is compared to the specific heat of explosion, Q, to

identify outliers in the overall trends of increasing sensitivity with increasing performance.