The increased reliance of today's society on EMs for various applications has amplified the need to develop materials capable of more efficiently storing and releasing substantial amounts of energy. At the same time, increased environmental concerns add additional pressure to find replacements for currently employed energetic materials as their use yields toxic by-products. Thus, new innovations in green EMs are needed; yet manufacturing green EMs is currently limited by a lack of industry-academia knowledge transfer, impeding the integration of these materials into global markets.
Existing EM-based technologies continue to rely on conventional materials such as trinitrotoluene (TNT; e.g., melt cast) and Research Department eXplosive (RDX; e.g., energetic filler), even though their energetic performance is less than ideal and they tend to release toxic biproducts (e.g., CO2, NOx, SOx, Pb, Hg) upon decomposition. Their low performance and high environmental impact increase the need for commercially viable and green EMs.
Professors Jaclyn Brusso and Muralee Murugesu partnered with General Dynamics Ordnance and Tactical Systems – Canada Inc., to design and synthesize green EMs. This partnership is enabling the development of EMs with (1) enhanced energetic performances (e.g., enhanced enthalpy of formation, density, detonation velocity, detonation pressure); (2) lower sensitivity to impact, friction, thermal decomposition and electrostatic discharge; (3) reduced toxicity of their combustion by-products; (4) reduced water solubility to minimize leaching; and (5) reduced environmental impact during production (e.g., elimination of redwater pollution associated with the production of TNT). Moreover, working directly with an end user whose needs are considered throughout the entire process ensures an effective evaluation of the prepared EMs as well as effective technology transfer.
Profs. Brusso and Murugesu have designed new nitrogen-rich compounds that combine high-energy density with controlled energy release, which not only eliminate the toxic by-products associated with traditional energetic materials, but also address safe storage and transfer via the complex salt formation approach. By working closely with GD-OTS Canada, the materials developed in their labs at uOttawa will be field-tested and produced safely in scaled-up quantities, thereby enabling real-world applicability for (a) Canadian defense, (b) advancing Canadian mining initiatives for sustaining profitable Canadian exports such as natural gas, raw diamonds and other such natural resources and (c) industrial-scale welding. This partnership is supported by funding from the NSERC Alliance and Alliance Missions program, as well as by the Ontario Centre of Innovation.
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