Synthesis and Characterization of Energetic Resorcinol-formaldehyde Xerogel

Energetic organic materials were obtained by direct nitration of the sol-gel synthesized resorcinolformaldehyde xerogel. Resorcinol-formaldehyde xerogels were prepared by conventional method of sodium bicarbonate catalyzed sol-gel process under the ambient pressure drying. Energetic xerogels were prepared by direct nitration of the dried organic gels in nitric/sulfuric acid mixture and varied nitration time from 10 to 60 min. The effect of nitration time on energetic and physicochemical properties of the resulted energetic xerogels were investigated. The energetic gels were characterized by specific surface area (BET), pore size distribution (BJH), heat of explosion (HOE) and burning velocity. It was observed that the nitration time plays crucial role in energetic and physicochemical properties of the resulted xerogels which can be optimized by controlling nitration process