Energetic materials are a special class of energy materials
composed
of C, H, O, and N. Their safety always deteriorates with increasing
energy. Regulating the properties of energetic materials to meet application
requirements is one of the focuses of research in this field. Energetic
metal–organic frameworks (EMOFs) are good candidates as primary
explosives to replace lead azide (LA) and other explosives containing
toxic metal elements. However, safety remains the biggest concern
in applications. In this paper, crystal morphology modulation of EMOF
was carried out by stepwise coordination of metal ions and energetic
ligands on surfaces of graphene oxide (GO) and amino-functionalized
graphene oxide (AGO). Two energetic composite materials, Cu-AFTO@GO
and Cu-AFTO@AGO, were successfully synthesized and also the EMOF (Cu-AFTO).
The structures and morphologies of these materials were fully characterized.
The thermal decomposition behaviors, mechanical sensitivity, and electrostatic
discharge sensitivity were investigated in detail. The electric ignition
ability of EMOF and two composite materials was tested. This study
shows that it is possible to reduce the diameter of EMOF crystals
from hundreds of microns to tens of nanometers by a stepwise coordination
method. The high electrical conductivity and sensitivity-reducing
effect of GO and/or AGO allow the nanosized EMOF crystals to have
a lower ignition threshold and lower sensitivity.