Abstract
Transit through the carbon liquid phase has significant consequences for the subsequent formation of solid nanocarbon detonation products. We report dynamic measurements of liquid carbon condensation and solidification into nano-onions over ∽200 ns by analysis of time-resolved, small-angle X-ray scattering data acquired during detonation of a hydrogen-free explosive, DNTF (3,4-bis(3-nitrofurazan-4-yl)furoxan). Further, thermochemical modeling predicts a direct liquid to solid graphite phase transition for DNTF products ~200 ns post-detonation. Solid detonation products were collected and characterized by high-resolution electron microscopy to confirm the abundance of carbon nano-onions with an average diameter of ∽10 nm, matching the dynamic measurements. We analyze other carbon-rich explosives by similar methods to systematically explore different regions of the carbon phase diagram traversed during detonation. Our results suggest a potential pathway to the efficient production of carbon nano-onions, while offering insight into the phase transformation kinetics of liquid carbon under extreme pressures and temperatures.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Article number | 3819 |
| Journal | Nature Communications |
| Volume | 10 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Dec 1 2019 |
| Externally published | Yes |
Funding
We thank and acknowledge B. Wood of LLNL, for providing calculated electron density maps across graphitic sheets. The authors also wish to acknowledge technical assistance from HEAF staff at LLNL including: D. Hansen, C. Mclean, S. Pease, K. Moua, B. Peralta, D. Voloshin, W. Bassett, N. Anderson, and F. Gagliardi. TR-SAXS experiments were further supported by the efforts of DCS staff including, D. Paskvan, T. Graber, and P. Rigg at WSU/DCS as well as additional technical input from T. Gog, S. Seifert, and J. Ilavsky at APS/ANL and J. Mang and D. Podlesak at LANL. This work was performed under the auspices of the U.S. Department of Energy by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory under Contract DE-AC52–07NA27344 and was supported by the LLNL-LDRD Program under Project No. 14-ERD-018. MHN acknowledges support from the Lawrence Fellowship. Work at the Molecular Foundry was supported by the Office of Science, Office of Basic Energy Sciences, of the U.S. Department of Energy under Contract No. DE-AC02–05CH11231. The Dynamic Compression Sector at the Advanced Photon Source is managed by Washington State University and funded by the National Nuclear Security Administration of the U.S. Department of Energy under Cooperative Agreement No. DE-NA0002442. Supporting experiments and data were also performed at 32-ID-B at APS. This research used resources of the Advanced Photon Source, a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science User Facility operated for the DOE Office of Science by Argonne National Laboratory under Contract No. DE-AC02–06CH11357.