Two Promising Ionic Energetic Cocrystals Based on ADN and AP

Ammonium dinitramide (ADN) and ammonium perchlorate (AP) are two representative mainstream oxidizers. However, their practical applications in advanced energetic formulations are severely limited by multiple factors, such as high hygroscopicity and insufficient thermal stability for ADN, relatively low energy density for AP, and unfavorable enthalpy of formation for both. To address these drawbacks, this work introduces 4-amino-1,2,4-triazole (4-ATA), a coformer with a high enthalpy of formation, to prepare two ionic energetic cocrystals with excellent comprehensive properties: ADN/4-ATA (cocrystal 1) and AP/4-ATA (cocrystal 2). Compared with their respective raw oxidizers, cocrystal 1 exhibits higher thermal stability (Td > 200 °C) and lower impact sensitivity (2-kg drop hammer, H50 = 51.5 cm), whereas cocrystal 2 shows significantly improved detonation performance, with its detonation velocity (VD) and detonation pressure (P) increased by 12.6 and 23.7%, respectively. Therefore, the preparation of ionic cocrystals offers an effective approach to enhancing the overall performance of ionic oxidizers.