Computational design of tetrazolone‐based high‐energy density energetic materials: Property prediction and decomposition mechanism

Abstract The density functional theory methods are used to design a series of new highly energetic tetrazolone‐based molecules by the combination of the linked tetrazolone framework and versatile substitutes. The molecular and electronic structures, physicochemical, and energetic properties were analyzed and predicted. The decomposition mechanisms were computationally simulated, and 3 potential decomposition channels were proposed. These newly designed tetrazolone‐based compounds show high densities (up to 2.08 g/cm 3 ) and highly positive heats of formation (407.0‐1377.9 kJ/mol) due to all right content of nitrogen and oxygen. Most of them exhibit good detonation velocity (8.31‐9.62 km/s) and detonation pressure (32.40‐43.86 GPa), and some are comparative to excellent explosive CL‐20. Results show that compounds 6 , 10 , 11 , 12 , 15 , 16 , 17 , 22 , 23 , and 24 own superior detonation performance than widely used explosive HMX and may be promising candidates of green high‐performance energetic materials.