Examination of Wax-Coated RDX by scanning electron microscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy

Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) have been used to examine the nature and quality of wax‐coated RDX crystals. SEM allows a visual assessment of wax‐coated crystals and comparison of different coating processes. XPS has allowed a semiquantitative determination of the degree of wax coverage by measurement of the carbon to nitrogen photoelectron emissions and calculation of the percentage of wax coverage using a simple mathematical treatment.