Chapter 1
Introduction
1.1 Energetic Materials
1.1.1 Energetic Materials: A Brief History
Energetic materials (explosives, propellants and pyrotechnics; EMs) contain stored
chemical energy which is rapidly released on initiation. EMs have proved to be of
great value for industrial, commercial and military applications [1]. The origin of
EMs is often ascribed to the accidental discovery of black powder (a mixture of
KNO 3 , S 8 and charcoal) ca. 220 BCE in China. Their development in Europe began
much later, when the English monk Roger Bacon began further studies of black
powder in 1249 CE, described in his letter ‘On the Marvellous Power of Art and
Nature and on the Nullity of Magic’ [2]. This led to the adoption by western nations
of black powder for military applications by the end of the 13th century. Despite
these early discoveries, EMs were not used industrially until some time later, with
the first documented use of black powder in England in the 1670s [3]. Black powder
quickly became notorious for its propensity to accidentally initiate, despite numerous
attempts at desensitising the material using additives, including paraffin and starch.
However, it remained the primary industrial EM until the 1870s [3].
It was not until the late 19th century that substantial progress was made on EM
technologies [3, 4]. The Nobel family made enormous strides with the development
of nitroglycerine (NG) based materials, including a variety of dynamite compositions [5]. A mixture of NG with clay (Guhr dynamite) proved sufficiently stable for
industrial application, and mixtures of NG with nitrocellulose (NC) led to formation of gelatine dynamite. Both dynamite forms remain in use today. The Nobel
family also introduced mercury fulminate as an alternative detonator to replace black
powder. Ammonium nitrate also became a popular additive to enhance explosive
compositions.
Throughout the development of EMs, safety remained a top concern. Accidental,
explosive-related casualties remained very high across industry, and it was finally
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020
A. A. L. Michalchuk, Mechanochemical Processes in Energetic Materials,
Springer Theses, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-56966-2_1
1
Introduction
1.1 Energetic Materials
1.1.1 Energetic Materials: A Brief History
Energetic materials (explosives, propellants and pyrotechnics; EMs) contain stored
chemical energy which is rapidly released on initiation. EMs have proved to be of
great value for industrial, commercial and military applications [1]. The origin of
EMs is often ascribed to the accidental discovery of black powder (a mixture of
KNO 3 , S 8 and charcoal) ca. 220 BCE in China. Their development in Europe began
much later, when the English monk Roger Bacon began further studies of black
powder in 1249 CE, described in his letter ‘On the Marvellous Power of Art and
Nature and on the Nullity of Magic’ [2]. This led to the adoption by western nations
of black powder for military applications by the end of the 13th century. Despite
these early discoveries, EMs were not used industrially until some time later, with
the first documented use of black powder in England in the 1670s [3]. Black powder
quickly became notorious for its propensity to accidentally initiate, despite numerous
attempts at desensitising the material using additives, including paraffin and starch.
However, it remained the primary industrial EM until the 1870s [3].
It was not until the late 19th century that substantial progress was made on EM
technologies [3, 4]. The Nobel family made enormous strides with the development
of nitroglycerine (NG) based materials, including a variety of dynamite compositions [5]. A mixture of NG with clay (Guhr dynamite) proved sufficiently stable for
industrial application, and mixtures of NG with nitrocellulose (NC) led to formation of gelatine dynamite. Both dynamite forms remain in use today. The Nobel
family also introduced mercury fulminate as an alternative detonator to replace black
powder. Ammonium nitrate also became a popular additive to enhance explosive
compositions.
Throughout the development of EMs, safety remained a top concern. Accidental,
explosive-related casualties remained very high across industry, and it was finally
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020
A. A. L. Michalchuk, Mechanochemical Processes in Energetic Materials,
Springer Theses, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-56966-2_1
1