New compound is 1.5 times stronger than TNT

Explosive chemistry is an area that requires sophistication. A little carbon, a little nitrogen added, and an exact amount of Oxygen that can transform a relatively inert substance into a smoldering mass just waiting for a burst.

For over 100 years, TNT has become the perfect combination of chemistry whenever it wants to blow something away, and it is even used as a measure of the power of nuclear explosions. or other terrible explosions. But a new study at the US Los Alamos National Laboratory and the US Army Research Laboratory has discovered a new chemical compound, with many advantages over TNT, with greater destructive power and less toxicity. More harmful to production. It is called Bis-Oxadiazole (C ₆ H ₄ N ₆ O ₈ ).

David Chavez, an expert in explosives chemistry at Alamos, who has studied the new molecule, said: "It is about 1.5 times stronger than TNT. The power is very powerful, a significant step forward. compared to TNT ".

TNT has become the perfect combination of chemistry whenever you want to blow something away.

Problems with TNT

TNT, or Tri-Nitro-Toluene , is a combination of seemingly harmless elements such as carbon, hydrogen, oxygen and nitro (C ₇ H ₅ N ₃ O ₆ ). Chavez compared this explosive compound to gasoline, saying it does not need to draw oxygen from the air to act as an oxidizer for a fuel-burning engine, because it has everything it needs right away. in my structure. Not only that, the elements are packed together in TNT molecules, not a mixture of air and gasoline like in cars, so when it explodes it releases a mass of energy. terrible.

TNT also has another important advantage when producing: it can melt. In other words, TNT's melting point is low enough, about 80 ^° C, so you can safely melt the material into a liquid, without causing it to explode itself, which occurs at approx. 240 ^o C. This allows manufacturers to pour liquid TNT into molds and cartridges to produce bombs.

Jesse Sabatini, a general chemist at the US Army Research Laboratory (ARL) in Maryland, said: "The place you see most often used is it in mortar shells and shells."

But TNT has other important drawbacks that lead to "the development of a new fusion explosive" , as Sabatini said. TNT and other chemicals used in military explosives produce pollutants during production, and they can be dangerous even without explosion.

Scientists are studying to find new types of explosives.

"There is actually quite a bit of waste produced during TNT production , " Chavez said. "There are some things called red water , the water left over from nitrification of TNT. And then when TNT is really isolated, it will be washed with more water, and that water is a waste. called red water, and it has some environmental impact ".

These contaminants can penetrate into soil and water, and due to the high evaporation pressure of TNT, it tends to produce air pollutants that can harm workers when the steam dissolves. flow this chemical.

There is also another fact about TNT, which is the type of explosive that does not have enough oxygen in the molecule to burn all the carbon and hydrogen inside it. That is why you will see a cloud of black smoke with the majority of the extra Carbon after TNT explodes. So TNT is often mixed with other chemicals, for example RDX to form an explosive mixture called Composition B , often seen in many types of bombs. But RDX also produces pollutants that can seep into water sources, but they are not easily biodegradable.

"The military always wants to improve performance," Sabatini said. "They want a bigger explosion. They want more power. And TNT is fine . but we want to do better."

Finding an alternative to TNT is a lasting effort that has been around for decades.

The journey to find explosives instead of TNT

Finding an alternative to TNT is an extended effort that has been around for decades, and in 2016, ARL has compiled a compound with very promising results. Bis-isoxazole, proved to be cleaner than TNT and can melt, but has no power like TNT. Working with Los Alamos, ARL decided to refine its formula.

Bis-isoxazole contains two 5-nucleus chains, including three carbon nuclei, a Nitro nucleus and an oxygen nucleus. By replacing a carbon nucleus with another Nitro nucleus, chemists knew that they had created a compound with greater destructive power, even if they were not sure if it could melt."There really is no way to predict the melting point," Sabatini said.

The result is a new molecule that can replace TNT, Bis-oxadiazole. Nitro nuclei are added to increase the density of the molecule, and the removal of a carbon nucleus will help balance the amount of oxygen, so all of the material nuclei in the molecule are used to produce energy. amount for reaction. When the researchers synthesized it in the laboratory, they realized that bis-oxadiazole had a melting point equivalent to TNT, making it meltable at safe temperatures.

Bis-oxadiazole will have an explosion rate of about 8.18km / s and explosion pressure at 29.4 Gigapascal.

There are two main measures to measure the strength of an explosion: explosion rate and explosive pressure. According to the chemical model, Bis-oxadiazole will have an explosion rate of about 8.18 km / s and an explosion pressure of 29.4 Gigapascal, while Composition B's explosives have a speed of 7.8 km / s and pressure 26 Gigapascal. And from what chemists know about this new explosive, any residue from the manufacturing process can be easily decomposed in the environment.

However, these specific numbers still need to be tested. In a recent study, chemists have demonstrated the ability to produce a new explosive with a mass of about 25 grams. The next step is to expand the production capacity to hundreds of grams or kilograms, so that it can fully test its toxicity and test the ability to explode in the field.

Chavez said, to directly measure the speed and pressure of the explosion, chemists created cylinders containing the compound and placed them in a small steel box. A button above the lid of the box activates the explosion, and the sensors inside the cylinder are used to measure the speed, while the pressure can be calculated from the indentation left on the steel box.

Once the toxicity tests and the ability to explode are done, if the results are promising, the new material will have to go through a series of new tests that can be combined with something to put in. shells. Chemical manufacturers can then begin the process of producing this new type of explosive on a large scale.