Propellants Explosives Pyrotechnics, Vol.40, No.6, 892-897, 2015
Cohesive Hamaker Constants and Dispersive Surface Energies of RDX, PETN, TNT, and Ammonium Nitrate-Based Explosives
Inverse gas chromatography (IGC) was used to characterize dispersive surface energies gamma(D)(S) and cohesive Hamaker constants A(ii) for RDX, PETN, TNT, ammonium nitrate (AN), and AN-based explosives at 303 K. The gamma(D)(S) for RDX at 303 K is compared to previous studies and generally found to be in good agreement, substantiating the use of NESTT training materials to characterize explosives via IGC. Additionally, the effect of the amount of fuel in the AN mixtures on gamma(D)(S) is examined using simple linear regression. Finally, the IGC-predicted A(ii) values are compared to Lifshitz estimations for A(ii) of RDX, PETN, TNT, and AN.