Polymorphic Phase Control of RDX-Based Explosives

Abstract

The polymorphic phase of 1,3,5-trinitro-1,3,5-triazine (RDX) was examined as a function of mass loading, solvent, and sample deposition technique. When RDX was deposited at a high mass loading, the vibrational modes in the obtained Raman spectra were indicative of concomitant polymorphism as both the α-RDX and β-RDX phases were present. At low mass loadings, only β-RDX was observed regardless of solvent when using the drop cast crystallization method. However, α-RDX (the thermodynamically stable polymorphic phase observed with visible quantities of the explosive) was observed when RDX deposits were dry transferred. Observation of α-RDX was independent of the initial mass loading or the initial deposition solvent when using the dry transfer methodology. These data indicate that the use of the dry transfer preparation method can be used to successfully prepare RDX-based test articles with the α-RDX phase regardless of the solvent used to initially dissolve the RDX, the initial deposition technique, or the mass loading.