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Vol. 38 No. 6 (2026): Vol. 38 Issue No 6, 2026

Copyright (c) 2026 SSNM SANTOSH MADA, VAIBHAV S. SADAVARTE, RAMESH KURVA, SHRIKANT M. PANDE, PRASHANT S. KULKARNI

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Effect of 1,1-Diamino-2,2-Dinitroethene (FOX-7) on Thermal Decomposition of Cyclotetramethylenetetranitramine (HMX) and Combustion of Reduced Smoke Propellants

https://doi.org/10.14233/ajchem.2026.35772
S.S.N.M. Santosh Mada
High Energy Materials Research Laboratory, Pune-411021, India
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7067-659X
Vaibhav S. Sadavarte
High Energy Materials Research Laboratory, Pune-411021, India
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1409-6691
Ramesh Kurva
High Energy Materials Research Laboratory, Pune-411021, India
https://orcid.org/0009-0008-6006-7561
Shrikant M. Pande
High Energy Materials Research Laboratory, Pune-411021, India
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2467-0653
Prashant S. Kulkarni
Defence Institute of Advanced Technology, Pune-411025, India

Corresponding Author(s) : S.S.N.M. Santosh Mada

santosh.mada.hemrl@gov.in

Asian Journal of Chemistry, Vol. 38 No. 6 (2026): Vol. 38 Issue No 6, 2026

Abstract

The development of next generation solid rocket propellant requires a critical balance between high energy output and insensitivity to mechanical stimuli. This study investigates the thermal decomposition of cyclotetramethylenetetranitramine (HMX) in combination with 1,1-diamino-2,2-dinitroethene (FOX-7) and other propellant ingredients. Mixture of FOX-7 and HMX was analysed by SEM and XRD techniques to understand the type of interactions formed during sample preparation by wet grinding process. Further, thermogravimetric analysis coupled with FTIR (TG-FTIR) was employed to investigate the thermal decomposition behaviour of HMX/FOX-7 binary mixtures and solid propellant formulations containing butanetriol trinitrate, polycaprolactone polyol prepolymer, HMX, FOX-7 and ammonium perchlorate (AP). In this study, neat HMX exhibited a single sharp exothermic peak at 285.7 ºC, whereas FOX-7 decomposed in two stages at 230.5 and 293.9 ºC. Decompositions occurred at 225.2 ºC, 254.1 ºC and 285.0 ºC in 1:1 HMX/FOX-7 mixture, indicating significant mutual interaction between the two components. Similar type of interaction was also observed in thermal decomposition of FOX-7/AP combination. In addition, a systematic study of binary mixtures was conducted to understand the mutual effect of FOX-7 on thermal decomposition of HMX. An attempt to predict the mechanism of mutual effect of FOX-7 and HMX on thermal decomposition of 1:1 mixture has also been made by FTIR absorbance intensity of gases evolved at maximum heat release. Propellants designated as P-1, P-2 and P-3 were formulated using unary, binary and ternary solid mixtures of FOX-7, HMX and AP, respectively, and were characterized for density, sensitivity and thermal stability. It was observed that pressure dependencies of P-2 and P-3 were reduced by ~6% and ~11%, respectively as a result of the mutual effect among the propellant ingredients.

Keywords

Mutual effect Thermal decomposition Pressure exponent FTIR absorbance intensity
(1)
Mada, S. S.; Sadavarte, V. S.; Kurva, R.; Pande, S. M.; Kulkarni, P. S. Effect of 1,1-Diamino-2,2-Dinitroethene (FOX-7) on Thermal Decomposition of Cyclotetramethylenetetranitramine (HMX) and Combustion of Reduced Smoke Propellants. ajc 2026, 38, 1547-1555.
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