Preparation and Performance of Pentaerythrite Tetranitrate‐Based Composites by Direct Ink Writing

Abstract

Direct ink writing (DIW), a promising technology for manufacturing energetic materials, has been a hot topic in the micro-scale charge of explosives. Herein, three kinds of pentaerythrite tetranitrate (PETN)-based all-liquid explosive inks were engineered and patterned using DIW. Scanning electron microscopy, energy-dispersive x-ray spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, differential scanning calorimetry, and nanoindentation were used to characterize the printed samples. The density, thickness of single layer, impact sensi-tivity and critical size of detonation were measured and analyzed. Results show that PETN/EC/Viton exhibits excellent properties, specifically greater activation energy (148.09 KJ mol À1 ), elastic modulus (2.808 GPa), and characteristic height (49.9 cm, 2.5 kg), over the two other samples. Moreover, a directly deposited sample in small grooves can provide steady detonation above the size of 1 3 0.101 mm. These features all contribute to the application of microsize detonation to a certain degree.

Interpol review of detection and characterization of explosives and explosives residues 2016-2019

“…Xu, C., An, C., Li, Q., Xu, S., Wang, S., Guo, H., and Wang, J. have a unique and timely paper on using direct ink writing (DIW) to manufacture pentaerythrite tetranitrate-based composites. The energetic materials were producting using DIW, and “scanning electron microscopy, energy-dispersive x-ray spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, differential scanning calorimetry, and nanoindentation were used to characterize the printed samples” [ 111 ].…”

Progress in Additive Manufacturing of Energetic Materials: Creating the Reactive Microstructures with High Potential of Applications

“…Experiments where several layers with a total thickness up to 150 μm were deposited reveal that some morphological features of the previous layer are adopted by the next layer. An and coworkers [70][71][72] reported inkjet printing using allliquid inks based on PETN, CL-20 and 3,4-dinitrofurazanofuroxan with a theoretical maximum density (TMD) of up to 93 % and detonated printed samples below 1 mm thickness. The latest result is 97 % TMD with ink being the solution of two explosives, 3,4-bis(4-nitro-1,2,5-oxadiazol-3-yl)-1,2,5-oxadiazole-2-oxide (BNFF or DNTF) and RDX, and two binders, GAP and ethyl cellulose [67].…”

Fabrication of Energetic Composites with 91% Solid Content by 3D Direct Writing

“…According to the standards set by the Subcommittee of materials and Testing Association of America (ASTM), additive manufacturing technology is divided into seven categories [ 21 , 22 ]. Among them, material spray forming technology [ 23 ], material extrusion technology [ 24 ], and photopolymerization curing technology [ 25 ] have been applied in the forming and manufacturing of energetic materials [ 23 , 25 , 26 , 27 , 28 , 29 , 30 , 31 , 32 ]. Material spray forming technology requires a material to have a lower viscosity so that it can be sprayed from small nozzles; however, photopolymerization curing technology requires more photosensitive resin in the molding material, and the solid content of both should not be high.…”