Radiation-induced decomposition of PETN and TATB under pressure

High pressure studies of potassium perchlorate

“…It is evident that the growth of KCl slows with pressure. This slowing of the decomposition rate with pressure has been observed in other compounds (such as PETN and TATB [15][16] and KClO 3 [7]). Pressure in this case slows the decomposition reaction presumably because the sign of the volume change of the activated reaction complex is positive [15][16].…”

“…In the pressure-dependent x-ray photochemical decomposition study, a steady decrease in the decomposition rate was observed with increase in pressure which has been observed in other systems [15][16], including in KClO 3 [7]. Due to rapid ionization from the powerful synchrotron x-ray beam (order of seconds to minutes) and the fact that oxygen is a liquid around 2 GPa, determination of the x-ray structure of KClO 4 with pressure was not possible but may be possible at higher pressures where x-ray induced decomposition significantly slows.…”

“…Prior studies have observed that KClO 4 decomposes faster than KClO 3 [9] and, as such, the former compound can be useful in more rapidly delivering oxygen in situ. Earlier studies demonstrated that pressure can be a useful mechanism to slow hard x-ray in-duced decomposition reactions [15][16], offering the potential of chemical control. Yet, KClO 4 has been little studied at high pressure and ambient temperature to the best of our knowledge.…”

The high-pressure phase behavior and compressibility of 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene

“…The intense single-wavelength light source provided for ADXD from third-generation synchrotron sources affords quality diffraction spectra without the irradiation damage observed in explosives under broadband irradiation. 11 The characteristics of the diffraction experiment were calibrated with a CeO 2 standard, and approximate x-ray beam dimensions are 10ϫ 20 m full width at half maximum, thus precluding scattering from the gasket. In situ pressure measurements were determined from ruby fluorescence, and measured pressures are accurate to Ϯ0.2 GPa, although inhomogeneous stress distributions may be larger than the noted instrumental error.…”

Aging of Pentaerythritol Tetranitrate (PETN)

“…The radiation-induced decomposition reaction in PETN was seen to be first-order and nearly pressure independent. [Giefers 2006] Reaction products that appear red when PETN is pressurized become gaseous at ambient conditions. The authors were unable to determine the reaction products.…”