3 ms·
Popular Mechanics is not great for people with more than the bare minimum knowledge of chemistry. The new explosive is bis(1,2,4-oxadiazole)bis(methylene)dinit
by logfromblammo 8y ago
Popular Mechanics is not great for people with more than the bare minimum knowledge of chemistry. The new explosive is bis(1,2,4-oxadiazole)bis(methylene)dinitrate:
ONO2
/
H2C
\
C---O
// \
N N
\ //
\ //
C
|
C
// \
// \
N N
\ //
O---C
\
CH2
/
O2NO
I propose the acronym "BODAMN" (Bis Oxa-Di-Azole Methylene Nitrate), as the one most likely to catch on among those melt-casting it. Army folks love pronounceable acronyms.
In the absence of sufficient oxygen, reaction products are likely to be
C6H4N6O8 --> 3 N2 + 2 H2O + 6 CO
C6H4N6O8 --> 3 N2 + H2O + H2 + CO2 + 5 CO
C6H4N6O8 --> 3 N2 + 2 H2 + 2 CO2 + 4 CO
That beats TNT, which produces between 1 and 3.5 moles of C (as soot) per mole of TNT. With BODAMN's all-gaseous products, the hot CO and H2 can expand after the initial detonation, and then react with O2 whenever they can find one.
With excess oxygen available, the hot, pressurized N2 might also form some NO or NO2.