The effects of SDS, APG, and DTAB surfactants on the morphology of micro-nano RDX particles prepared in a microfluidic reactor

Abstract The effects of different surfactants on the morphology of 1,3,5-trinitro-1,3,5-triazinane (RDX) micro-nanoparticles prepared by solvent/non-solvent method in a microfluidic reactor were investigated. Alkyl polyglycoside (APG), sodium dodecyl sulphate (SDS) and dodecyltrimethylammonium bromide (DTAB) were selected as non-solvents. The surface tension and interfacial tension (IFT) properties of SDS, APG and DTAB were investigated. Compared to DTAB and SDS, the APG could effectively reduce the interfacial tension to 10 −2 mN/m and exhibited better surface tension. The RDX prepared with different surfactants were analysed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffractometry (XRD) and Fourier transform infrared spectrometry (FTIR). The results showed that the different surfactants could significantly improve the dispersion effect of RDX and the crystal morphology was uniform and stable.