A promising TNT alternative 3,3'-bi(1,2,4-oxadiazole)-5,5'-diylbis(methylene)dinitrate (BOM): thermal behaviors and eutectic characteristics.

3,3'-Bi(1,2,4-oxadiazole)-5,5'-diylbis(methylene)dinitrate (BOM) is a liquid phase carrier for melt cast explosives that is expected to replace TNT. The combination of a conjugated 1,2,4-oxadiazole backbone and nitrate ester groups endows BOM with both good energetic performance and impressive insensitivity. In this paper, the thermal behaviors of BOM were investigated using a TG-DSC synchronous thermal analyzer, proving that BOM is basically non-volatile under heating and melting processes. The apparent activation energy of BOM calculated by the Kissinger method was 158.2 kJ mol at atmospheric pressure, which is higher than that of DNTF at atmospheric pressure and TNT at 2 MPa, indicating good thermal stability at low temperatures. The thermal decomposition mechanism of BOM was studied through both DSC-MS and FTIR technologies. The low eutectic characteristics of BOM and DNTF were also investigated carefully and the best ratio of BOM/DNTF was 40/60 with a melting point at 75.5 °C. Finally, the detonation performances of TNT/HMX, BOM/HMX and BOM/DNTF(40/60)/HMX explosive formulations were calculated, showing that the detonation performances of the latter two formulations were significantly higher than that of TNT/HMX.