Three Insensitive Energetic Co-crystals of 1-Nitronaphthalene, with 2,4,6-Trinitrotoluene (TNT), 2,4,6-Trinitrophenol (Picric Acid) and D-Mannitol Hexanitrate (MHN)

Co-crystallization is proposed as an effective method to alter the physicochemical properties of energetic materials, e.g. density, sensitivity and solubility. As reported in this paper, it was found that 1-nitronaphthalene could form cocrystals with TNT, picric acid and MHN in a 1:1 molecular ratio. The sensitivity and thermal stability of the 1-nitronaphthalene co-crystals was greatly improved compared with that of pure TNT, picric acid and MHN. In addition, the melting points of TNT, picric acid and MHN were lowered through co-crystallization with 1-nitronaphthalene. The electrostatic potential surface of 1-nitronaphthalene, calculated by the DFT method, showed that the electron-rich 1-nitronaphthalene has a tendency to be a proton donor and to co-crystallize with other energetic materials. The structures of the co-crystals of 1-nitronaphthalene with TNT and picric acid were characterized by single crystal X-ray diffraction (SXRD). The 1-nitronaphthalene/MHN co-crystal was studied by powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and FTIR.