Preparation and characterization of nitrogen-rich bis-1-methylimidazole1H,1′H-5,5′-bistetrazole-1,1′-diolate energetic salt

A new nitrogen-rich energetic salt of bis-1-methylimidazole 1H,1′H-5,5′-bistetrazole-1,1′-diolate salt, (1-M)₂BTO, was synthesized and characterized (FT-IR, ¹H NMR, ¹³C NMR, elemental analysis, and X-ray single-crystal diffraction). Results indicated that (1-M)₂BTO crystallizes in the triclinic space group P-1. The thermal decomposition behavior of (1-M)₂BTO was determined by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and thermogravimetric tandem infrared spectroscopy. The decomposition peak temperature of (1-M)₂BTO was 530 K, which suggested that the salt is strong heat resistance. The apparent activation energies were 130.56 kJ mol⁻¹ (Kissinger's method) and 132.50 kJ mol⁻¹ (Ozawa's method), respectively. The enthalpy of formation for the salt was calculated as 917.3 kJ mol⁻¹. The detonation velocity and detonation pressure of (1-M)₂BTO were 7448 m s⁻¹ and 20.7 GPa, respectively, using the Kamlet-Jacobs equation. Furthermore, the sensitivity test results showed that its impact sensitivity is greater than 50 J and friction sensitivity is 180 N, indicating that it has a lower sensitivity.