Qi Xianghua1，2， Wang Zhenghong2， Chang Shengquan2， Gu Kunlun2， Wang Peng1， Gong Chunhui1， Gu Aotian1， Yang Yi1
1.School of Environmental and Biological Engineering， Nanjing University of Science and Technology， Nanjing 210094， China； 2.Qingyang Chemical Industry Co.， Ltd.， Liaoyang 111002， China
Abstract
Significance The coordinated development of high energy density and low mechanical sensitivity in high-energy explosives has attracted considerable scientific and technological interest. It not only involves detonation performance optimization but also includes intrinsic safety assurance， making it promising for propellant formulation， warhead charging， safe storage， and battlefield deployment. Specifically， nitramine explosives represented by RDX， HMX， and CL-20 have been widely applied in solid propellants， high-performance warheads， insensitive munitions， and deep-well perforation operations due to their superior detonation velocity and pressure. The development of novel single-compound energetic materials with both high energy and low sensitivity has been pursued for several decades. In this century， nanotechnology and crystal engineering have provided an effective platform for tailoring the performance of existing energetic crystals， and numerous reports have focused on sensitivity reduction based on particle refinement and morphology control. However， such strategies cannot achieve a satisfactory balance between energy retention and safety margin because nanosized particles suffer from severe agglomeration and surface energy instability due to their ultrahigh specific surface area. As an alternative， surface coating modification for constructing core-shell-structured composite energetic particles with excellent interfacial design capability， functional versatility， and reliable structural tunability has become a widely investigated desensitization approach and a major research topic over the past decade.
Progress Desensitization via surface coating fundamentally relies on suppressing the formation and propagation of hot spots under mechanical stimuli through mechanical buffering， thermal dissipation，electrostatic dissipation， and surface defect passivation. The four categories of composite materials exhibit distinct yet complementary roles. Energetic coating materials， including insensitive explosives and energetic polymers， prioritize energy retention by providing a reactive protective shell that participates in detonation， with research advancing toward precision-controlled and uniform core-shell structures. Nanocarbon materials leverage their exceptional thermal and electrical conductivity to achieve multifunctional improvements at low filler loadings， with current efforts focusing on surface functionalization to enhance dispersion and interfacial compatibility. Inert polymers remain the industrial mainstay， contributing through viscoelastic energy absorption and robust physical isolation of crystals. Biomimetic adhesion strategies strengthen interfacial bonding in polymer-bonded explosives. Metal-organic frameworks offer molecular-level confinement within ordered nanopores， enabling precise physical isolation and enhanced electrostatic safety， while their derivative carbon skeletons integrate conductive networks for sensitive primary explosives. Collectively， the research trajectory reflects a shift from empirical formulation toward mechanism-guided hierarchical structural design to balance energy retention with enhanced safety.
Conclusions and Prospects The past decade has witnessed significant progress in the composite modification of high-energy explosives， enabling various strategies to address the inherent contradiction between energy density and mechanical sensitivity. Different material systems， including energetic coatings， nanocarbons， inert polymers， and metal-organic frameworks， are introduced into nitramine explosives to achieve effective sensitivity reduction while preserving detonation performance. However， most current studies focus primarily on laboratory-scale characterization of immediate desensitization efficacy， with insufficient attention paid to the long-term physicochemical evolution of composite particles under practical storage conditions， which weakens confidence in operational safety and limits reliable service-life prediction， especially at the industrial deployment scale. Furthermore， the scalable and cost-effective manufacturing of these advanced composite powders remains a major technological challenge， as the transition from batch-wise laboratory synthesis to continuous production faces challenges in quality consistency and process control. Additionally， the optimization of individual performance indicators frequently comes at the expense of other critical attributes， underscoring the need for systematic evaluation of trade-offs among energy output， sensitivity， and mechanical integrity. Therefore， the development toward environmentally sustainable and industrially viable preparation processes is an important future trend. In addition， the rational design and computational screening of tailored coating materials remain insufficient to meet the requirements of multi-component fluorocarbon or per fluorocarbon separation systems， which need to be improved through the integration of high-throughput simulation and machine learning methodologies. Parallel to the refinement of existing technologies， further investigation into long-term stability assessment and green manufacturing protocols is also an important direction.
Keywords： high-energy explosive； desensitization； surface coating； composite powder； multilevel composite structure
Get Citation:Qi Xianghua， Wang Zhenghong， Chang Shengquan， et al. Research progress in energy retention and desensitization strategies and regulation technologies for high-energy explosive particles［J］. China Powder Science and Technology， 2026， 32（6）： 1-17.
Received： 2026-05-19， Revised： 2026-07-15， Online： 2026-08-24。
Funding： The research was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 52470120 and 12475310) and the Postgraduate Research & Practice Innovation Program of Jiangsu Province (Grant No. SJCX25_0212).
CLC No.：TJ55； TB4
Type Code：A
Serial No.：1008-5548（2026）06-0001-17
