Subsurface Spectroscopy of Thermal Degradation Inside an Inert Plastic Bonded Explosive (PBX) Simulant Using Feedback-Assisted Wavefront Shaping

We characterize the subsurface thermal degradation of an inert analog of high-explosive molecular crystals (Eu:Y(acac)3(DPEPO)) (EYAD) embedded inside of a plastic bonded explosive simulant using feedback-assisted wavefront shaping-based fluorescence and Raman spectroscopies. This technique utilizes wavefront shaping to focus pump light inside a heterogeneous material onto a target particle, which significantly improves its spectroscopic signature. We find that embedding the EYAD crystals in the heterogeneous polymer results in improved thermal stability, relative to bare crystal measurements, with the crystal remaining fluorescent to >612 K inside of the heterogeneous material, while the bare crystal’s fluorescence is fully quenched by 500 K. We hypothesize that this improvement is due to the polymer restricting the effects of EYAD melting, which occurs at 400 K and is the primary mechanism for spectroscopic changes in the temperature range explored. Graphical abstract This is a visual representation of the abstract.