Electrostatic spraying construction strategy and performance of NGEC-based core-shell nanoenergetic material

Abstract

Recently, a novel kind of thermal plastic energetic cellulose binder nitrate glycerol ether cellulose (NGEC) exhibits promising application in enhancing the mechanical property of propellants. In this study, a series of NGEC-based core-shell nanoenergetic composites were prepared by electrostatic spray technology, including RDX@NGEC, HMX@NGEC, and CL-20@NGEC. The findings revealed that NGEC was coated uniformly on the surface of energetic crystals and presented favorable spherical morphology. The thermal decomposition demonstrated that the polymorphic phase transition of HMX and CL-20 almost disappeared, and the activation energy (E_a) was also calculated. Comparing with original energetic crystals, the E_a of RDX@NGEC (133.44 kJ/mol) and HMX@NGEC (326.65 kJ/mol) were increased by 11.39 kJ/mol and 38.58 kJ/mol, respectively, while that of CL-20@NGEC (155.59 kJ/mol) was decreased by 76.18 kJ/mol. Finally, the impact sensitivity has been reduced dramatically. Hence, this fabrication strategy of NGEC-based nanoenergetic composites has profound basic theory research significance and may provide promising application propellants.