Aqueous solubility and alkaline hydrolysis of the novel high explosive hexanitrohexaazaisowurtzitane (CL-20)

Pelin Karakaya, Mohammed Sidhoum, Christos Christodoulatos, Steve Nicolich, Wendy Balas

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

37 Scopus citations

Abstract

The recently developed polycyclic nitramine CL-20 is considered as a possible replacement for the monocyclic nitramines RDX and HMX. The present study reports aqueous solubility data for CL-20, as well as the kinetic parameters for its alkaline hydrolysis with sodium hydroxide below and above its solubility limits. Aqueous solubility of CL-20 was measured in the temperature range of 4-69°C and the data were fitted to a generalized solubility model. Alkaline hydrolysis experiments were conducted at 15, 20, 30 and 40°C, with hydroxide concentrations ranging from 0.25 to 300 mM. Like RDX and HMX, alkaline hydrolysis of CL-20 follows second-order kinetics. CL-20 alkaline hydrolysis was found to proceed at a significantly faster rate than RDX. The temperature dependency of the second-order rate constants was evaluated using the Arrhenius model. The activation energy for CL-20 was found to be within close range of the activation energies reported for RDX and HMX.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)183-191
Number of pages9
JournalJournal of Hazardous Materials
Volume120
Issue number1-3
DOIs
StatePublished - 11 Apr 2005

Keywords

  • Alkaline hydrolysis
  • CL-20
  • HNIW
  • Kinetics
  • Solubility

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