Sensitivity reduction of the CL-20/HMX cocrystal via advanced crystallization process

Being able to produce high explosive particles in a desired particle size, morphology, and crystal quality is a key factor in producing high quality polymer bonded explosives. In this poster we present our advances in the sensitivity reduction of the 2:1 CL-20/HMX cocrystal produced by solvent based crystallization via reduction of internal crystal defects. This progress was achieved by thorough control of the process parameters, such as supersaturation, stoichiometry, seeding procedure, temperature, and more. Optical microscopy with crystals immersed in refractivity matched liquid was utilized to visualize the internal defects and, thereby differentiate between the crystal qualities. In addition we present the application of post treatment procedures to further reduce the sensitivity of the obtained crystals, by modifying the crystal morphology and crystal surface.