Commonly available nonconventional energetic materials such as H2O2, ammonium nitrates (AN), and reactive materials (e.g., mixtures of metals and metal oxides), as well as conventional plastic explosives primarily made of pentaerythritol tetranitrate (PETN), cyclotrimethylene trinitramine (RDX), cyclotetramethylene-tetranitramine (HMX), and triaminotrinitrobenzene (TATB), are often subjected to...

Energetic materials store a large amount of chemical energy that can be readily converted into mechanical energy via decomposition. A number of different ignition processes such as sparks, shocks, heat, or arcs can initiate the excited electronic state decomposition of energetic materials. Experiments have demonstrated the essential role of excited electronic state decomposition in the energy c...

Reactive materials, such as thermite-like metal-metal oxide mixtures, intermetallic mixtures and combustible metals are being studied as candidates for binary energetic materials. During the past decade, there are several studies to use these reactive materials to design dual functional structuralenergetic materials. Most of the earlier studies resulted in low strength, low density structural e...

Motivation It has been recognized by many within the energetic materials community that the use of nano-sized energetic particles can lead to substantial increases in overall performance and safety of energetic materials. Nano-sized energetic particles offer the potential of high heat release rates, increased combustion efficiencies, tailored burning rates, and reduced sensitivity. In order to ...