Theoretical Evaluation of the Energetic Properties of Chain‐Like Hexanitrogen

The synthesis and characterization of hexanitrogen N 6 have been recently reported in the literature, marking a new milestone in the field of polynitrogen chemistry. The detonation and propulsive properties of N 6 have been thoroughly studied using thermochemical codes. The results show that while N 6 can be classified as a powerful explosive, its performance in terms of detonation velocity and pressure remains lower than that of state‐of‐the‐art explosives such as CL‐20 and TKX‐50, primarily due to its moderate density of 1.51 g/cm 3 . However, N 6 displays impressive and unmatched levels of specific impulse and impetus, reaching values higher than 3450 Ns/kg and 2500 J/g, respectively, when compared to CHNO‐based energetic materials. Gun propellant compositions incorporating N 6 have also been studied, and their energetic properties discussed, revealing that future stable polynitrogen species could serve as potential energetic additives in gun propellants, resulting in gun propellant formulations that exhibit high energy levels with acceptable combustion temperature values, making them valuable assets in ammunition intended for applications where erosion plays an important role in reducing a weapon's accuracy, range, and lifespan, such as a main battle tank's high muzzle velocity gun.