Exploration of super heat-resistant monomeric explosive featuring triptycene core structure

Zhibin Xu, Xiaorui Yan, Junjian Xie, Jian Wang, Junjie Liu, Xiaowen Hou, Zihui Meng, E. Xiu-tian-feng*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

Over the last few decades, the research for energetic materials with ultrahigh heat resistance and good energy level has been a highly severe challenge. In this study, a novel heat-resistant compound, 2,3,6,7,14,15-hexanitrotriptycene was developed through triptycene as core structure. Density functional theory (DFT) was employed to predict the energetic properties and synthesis difficulty of five designed triptycene-based compounds. Subsequently, a straightforward and efficient two-step synthesis process was adopted: two isomers of trinitrotriptycene with a yield of 93.8 % were synthesized via an improved Menke nitration method, and then hexanitrotriptycene was obtained with a yield of 74.0 % via an optimized process. Structure characterization confirmed the nitro substitution positions of trinitrotriptycene and trinitrotriptycene. Among them, 2,3,6,7,14,15-hexanitrotriptycene with low sensitivity (IS > 20 J, FS > 360 N) shows an ultrahigh thermal decomposition temperature of 414 °C and exhibits no decomposition after 4 h’ heating at 390 °C, which is extremely rare in the field of heat resistant explosives. Its enhanced density (1.81 g·cm−3) and energy level (detonation velocity: 7682 m‧s−1) is comparable to several commonly used heat-resistant explosives such as HNS, PYX, and NONA. These prominent properties of hexanitrotriptycene support it as an advanced heat resistant explosive with great promise.

Original languageEnglish
Article number159510
JournalChemical Engineering Journal
Volume505
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Feb 2025

Keywords

  • Detonation performances
  • Hexanitrotriptycene
  • Nitration
  • Thermal property
  • Triptycene

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Xu, Z., Yan, X., Xie, J., Wang, J., Liu, J., Hou, X., Meng, Z., & Xiu-tian-feng, E. (2025). Exploration of super heat-resistant monomeric explosive featuring triptycene core structure. Chemical Engineering Journal, 505, Article 159510. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cej.2025.159510