Taming CL-20 through hydrogen bond interaction with nitromethane

Abstract

A novel cocrystal explosive comprising CL-20/nitromethane in a 1 : 2 molar ratio was synthesised. Because of the CL-20 molecules were in ε conformation in the cocrystal, they possessed high crystal densities of 1.861 g cm⁻³ at 153 K and 1.821 g cm⁻³ at room temperature. Owing to the strong hydrogen bond interaction between the molecules, the decomposition temperature of the cocrystal was found to be 253 °C, which demonstrated excellent thermal stability among the cocrystals of CL-20. In addition, this cocrystal possessed exceptional sensitivities and comparable detonation properties.