Thermal Decomposition of Energetic Materials 86. Cryogel Synthesis of Nanocrystalline CL‐20 Coated with Cured Nitrocellulose

An unusual energetic composite, in which spherical nano‐dimensional particles of CL‐20 were uniformly coated with HDI‐cross‐linked nitrocellulose, was synthesized by the sol‐gel to cryogel method. Up to 90% solid loading was achieved. The particle size of CL‐20 was determined to be in the range of 20–200 nm by transmission electron microscopy, atomic force microscopy, and X‐ray powder diffraction. The decomposition characteristics of the composite were investigated by DSC and T‐jump/FTIR spectroscopy. The decomposition properties were controlled mostly by nitrocellulose until the percentage of CL‐20 was well above 50%. The drop weight impact sensitivity of the cryogels was essentially independent of the composition.