Turn a Weakness into a Strength: Performance Enhancement of 2,6-Diamino-3,5-dinitropyrazine-1-oxide (LLM-105) via Defect Engineering

Abstract

The stimuli-response behavior of energetic materials is strongly affected by the defects in crystals. Improving the performance of energetic materials through defect structure engineering is an effective but challenging method. Herein, we report a strategy for the defect regulation of LLM-105 crystals based on their response to external stimuli. The low-dimensional defects randomly distributed in crystals are proven to result in the premature decomposition of LLM-105, thereby reducing its thermal stability. With this property, the density of low-dimensional defects can be controllably decreased through a suitable heat treatment process, resulting in the emergence of voids and cracks in LLM-105 crystals. It is shown that the response of different types of defects to the external stimuli is selective. These changes in the defect structure of LLM-105 not only significantly enhance its thermal stability but also improve its initiation property and wettability, making LLM-105 one of the most attractive initiating explosives. Thus, the ability to tune explosive performance via defect engineering is shown in this work.