Understanding the alkyl effect of geminal dinitropropyl ester energetic plasticizers on hydroxyl terminated polybutadiene (HTPB): Simultaneous tuning on low temperature behavior and processability

[Display omitted] Geminal dinitropropyl ester plasticizers (DNPEPs) possess excellent energetic performances which provide good potentials as insensitive plasticizer. In this study, we design and synthesize DNPEPs with different alkane chain parts, and systematically investigate their structure–property relationships. Results show that DNPEPs have impact sensitivities all higher than 25.2 J, thermal decomposition temperatures all higher than 254 °C, and glass transition temperatures (Tg) lower than −90 °C. Furthermore, the effects of DNPEPs as plasticizer are studied on hydroxyl terminated polybutadiene (HTPB) in detail, including the viscosity, glass transition temperatures and others. It is noteworthy that 2,2-dinitropropyl nonanoate (DNPNc) among these DNPEPs exhibits the most expected simultaneous tuning effects on both viscosity and Tg of HTPB systems, providing favorable potentials to replace the conventional plastizers as dioctyl sebacate (DOS) in the HTPB based propellants and explosives.