Nanoenergetic Materials for Munitions Applications

Nanoenergetic materials provide an opportunity for engineers and scientists to tackle longstanding problems such as the under-performance of current munitions, safety hazards of legacy materials, munition lifecycle management costs due to environmental cleanup and demilitarization, and single point failures caused by the lack of manufacturing capabilities to replenish legacy materials.

Energetic nanocomposites were developed and studied in the context of the problems mentioned above. This paper will explore lessons learned from this research and development work. Issues were encountered with preparing consistent batches of nanoscale and nanostructured materials, coating these materials to reduce sensitivity to electrostatic discharge (ESD), and tuning these materials to meet specific objectives. Causes of, and remedies to, these issues will be discussed in relation to a number of applications, such as: lead azide replacement, low energy ignition compounds, and reactive materials. Some of the materials that have been tested within these applications have met or exceeded current technology objectives.