Study of the Elaboration of HMX and HMX Composites by the Spray Flash Evaporation Process

The Spray Flash Evaporation (SFE) process invented and developed at the NS3E laboratory allows obtaining different nanosized explosives (TNT, RDX, CL‐20…). This process is based on the very fast evaporation of the solvent due to the drastic modification of pressure and temperature leading to the crystallization of the molecules present in solution into nanometric or submicrometric particles. Here, we show the possibility to prepare pure HMX (Octahydro‐1,3,5,7‐tetranitro‐1,3,5,7‐tetrazocine) or HMX based composites at the nanoscale using this process. This study mainly focuses on the size, morphology and crystallographic phases obtained for HMX and HMX/TNT composites depending on the experimental conditions (temperature, pressure, solution concentration…) used during the elaboration. For this purpose, the results obtained from scanning electron microscopy, X‐ray diffraction and Raman spectroscopy are discussed.