CUSTOMIZED COMPATIBLE PROPELLANT BINDERS

THERE IS A WELL ESTABLISHED NEED FOR HIGH PERFORMANCE GUN PROPELLANT BINDERS. OUR RECENT WORK WITH THE SYNTHESIS OF HMX INTERMEDIATES SUGGESTS A METHOD OF CREATING A NEW SERIES OF UNUSUALLY COMPATIBLE BINDERS. IT IS EXPECTED THESE BINDERS WILL PROVIDE PROPELLANTS AND EXPLOSIVES WITH HIGHLY DESIRED PERFORMANCE AND INSENSITIVITY CHARACTERISTICS. WE PROPOSE TO DEMONSTRATE IN PRINCIPLE THAT BINDERS MAY BE PREPARED WHICH INCORPORATE CHEMICALLY BOUND SEGEMENTS OF THE EXPLOSIVES WITH WHICH THEY ARE TO BE MIXED. IT IS BELIEVED THE BOUND SEGMENTS WILL PROVIDE A COMMON BASIS FOR A PHYSICAL ATTRACTION BETWEEN THE BINDER AND THE RELATED COMPONENTS IN THE BULK OF THE MIXTURE. THE UNDERLYING PRINCIPLES WILL BE DEMONSTRATED USING DAPT (3,7-DIACETYL-1,3,5,7-TETRAAZABICYCLO-3.3-1 NONANE) WHICH HAS THE CAPACITY TO POLYMERIZE. AFTER POLYMERIZATION THE POLYMER WILL BE NITRATED. IT IS EXPECTED THAT THE RESULTING NITRATED POLYMER WILL SHOW BOTH HIGH COMPATIBILITY WITH HMX AND VERY HIGH THERMAL AND CHEMICAL STABILITY IN THE PRESENCE OF HMX. AS PART OF THE WIDER SCOPE OF THIS PROGRAM IT IS INTENDED TO DEMONSTRATE THAT BINDERS SO PREPARED CAN PROVIDE UNCOMMONLY STABLE THREE DIMENSIONAL NETWORKS WITH A WIDE VARIETY OF PROPELLANT AND EXPLOSIVE COMPOSITIONS.