Materials-Genome Approach to Energetic Materials

Energetic materials are classified as those that possess a large amount of stored chemical energy that can be released with appropriate stimulus for use in,for example,explosives or propellants.Not only are these materials tamed for use in military applications,but they are also utilized in various civilian applications like mining,construction,and cladding processes.As such,these materials are essential to national security and human well-being.1 The development of energetic materials dates back to the invention of black powder in China in the late Tang Dynasty in the ninth century.Black powder,a mixture of S,C,and KNO3,remained the only chemical explosive until the middle of the 17th century.After that,many highly impactful energetic molecules have been developed such as 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene(TNT),2,4,6-trini-trophenol(picric acid,TNP),1,3,5-trinitro-1,3,5-triazinane(RDX),1,3,5,7-tetranitro-1,3,5,7-tetrazocane(HMX),1,3,5-triamino-2,4,6-trinitrobenzene(TATB),pentaerythritol tetra-nitrate(PETN),hexanitrostilbene(HNS),1,1-diamino-2,2-dinitroethene(FOX-7),and 2,4,6,8,10,12-hexanitro-2,4,6,8,10,12-hexaazaisowurtzitane(CL-20).2 With the rein-forcement of global competitiveness in the 21st century,it is crucial to accelerate the pace of discovery and deployment of high-performance energetic material systems.As such,chemists in this field have had to become accustomed to balancing along the edge of stability.