Scientists improve process in creating high-energy explosive
NewsJanuary 17, 2018
ABERDEEN PROVING GROUND, Md. U.S. Army Research Laboratory (ARL) and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory scientists improved the overall chemical yield derived from diaminoglyoxime (DAG) and significantly increased the amount of material made per reaction, in response to the challenges in making high-energy explosives.
"A low-yielding reaction is problematic because this means that less material is made, thus increasing overall production costs. The traditional method of making DAG is not safe because the reaction releases a significant amount of heat. This can lead to an unintentional combustion event or an unintended explosion. Due in part to these cost and safety issues, explosives derived from DAG have seen limited potential application," says Dr. Jesse J. Sabatini, an ARL chemist.
Traditionally, scientist would synthesize DAG by reacting a mixture of hydroxylamine hydrochloride and sodium hydroxide with an aqueous solution of the dialdehyde glyoxal at 95?. DAG proceeds in a low chemical yield of 40 percent by this synthesis method, with the remaining 60 percent of the possible product being lost.
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Dr. Jesse J. Sabatini, team leader of the Energetics Synthesis Team within ARL's Weapons and Materials Research Directorate. U.S. Army photo by Conrad Johnson.[/caption]
"By simply adding an aqueous solution of glyoxal to an aqueous solution of hydroxylamine heated to 95?., followed by stirring for 3 days, DAG is produced in a much improved 80 percent yield. Since the new method to make DAG does not release a significant amount of heat, the potential explosion and combustion hazards are minimized. Therefore, the new DAG synthesis is much cheaper and safer to produce, thus paving the way for this material to be made in larger scale quantities," Sabatini adds.
Sabatini coauthored a paper with ARL colleague Eric C. Johnson and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory's Dr. Nathaniel B. Zuckerman, which describes the discovery of a higher-yielding, safer, and scalable synthesis of DAG.
After the publication, Johnson synthesized multi-pound quantities of DAG at ARL. Now that a higher-yielding, safer, and scalable process for producing DAG is in place, promising energetic materials made from this intermediate may be explored for their potential explosive applications in an efficient manner.
