Potassium trinitromethyl tetrazole (TNMT-K): a new member of the primary explosive family

Abstract

Design and synthesis of lead-free, environmentally benign primary explosives have been a significant challenge over the decades. Now a novel primary explosive, potassium 5-(trinitromethyl)-tetrazol-2-ide (TNMT-K), has been synthesized using straightforward and mild reaction conditions. TNMT-K offers advantages over traditional primary explosives such as facile synthesis, high positive oxygen balance (9.33%), insensitivity to light, good detonation properties (D = 7862 m s⁻¹, P = 26.27 GPa, −Q = 5039 kJ kg⁻¹), and very high mechanical sensitivity (IS < 1 J, FS < 5 N) with good thermal stability (T_d = 118 °C), which make it a potential next generation primary explosive.