Effect of Nanomaterials on Thermal Stability of 1,3,6,8-Tetranitro Carbazole

1,3,6,8-tetranitro carbazole (TNC) as a secondary explosive is used in composite explosive formulations in order to reduce the sensitivity and increase the stability of the explosive composites. In this work, the thermal stabilities of pure TNC and its nanocomposites prepared via three different nanoparticles were studied by thermal analysis, i.e. differential scanning calorimetery (DSC) and thermogravimetry (TG) techniques. Thermal analysis data revealed that the thermal behavior of pure TNC is significantly different from the nanocomposites studied. Pure TNC decomposed completely during a single step in the temperature range 385-425 °C. However, the addition of nanoparticles to the TNC powder leads to higher thermal stability in comparison with the pure TNC. The decomposition kinetics of TNC and its nanocomposites were studied by non-isothermal DSC at several heating rates. Thermokinetic and thermodynamic parameters corresponding to the thermal decomposition of pure TNC and nanocomposites were computed and compared. The results showed that the addition of nanoparticles to the TNC powder has a considerable effect on the thermal stability of the explosive.