TY - JOUR A1 - Aree, T. A1 - McMonagle, C. J. A1 - Michalchuk, Adam A1 - Chernyshov, D. T1 - Low-frequency lattice vibrations from atomic displacement parameters of a-FOX-7, a high energy density material N2 - Highly anharmonic thermal vibrations may serve as a source of structural instabilities resulting in phase transitions, chemical reactions and even the mechanical disintegration of a material. Ab initio calculations model thermal motion within a harmonic or sometimes quasi-harmonic approximation and must be complimented by experimental data on temperature-dependent vibrational frequencies. Here multi-temperature atomic displacement parameters (ADPs), derived from a single-crystal synchrotron diffraction experiment, are used to characterize low-frequency lattice vibrations in the alpha-FOX-7 layered structure. It is shown that despite the limited quality of the data, the extracted frequencies are reasonably close to those derived from inelastic scattering, Raman measurements and density functional theory (DFT) calculations. Vibrational anharmonicity is parameterized by the Grüneisen parameters, which are found to be very different for in-layer and out-of-layer vibrations. KW - Energetic Materials KW - DFT KW - Structural dynamics KW - X-ray diffraction PY - 2022 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1107/S2052520622002700 SN - 2052-5206 VL - 78 SP - 376 EP - 384 PB - Wiley-Blackwell CY - Oxford AN - OPUS4-54832 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Michalchuk, Adam A1 - Trestman, M. A1 - Rudic, S. A1 - Portius, P. A1 - Fincham, P. A1 - Pulham, C. A1 - Morrison, C. T1 - Predicting the reactivity of energetic materials: an ab initio multi-phonon approach N2 - The ease with which an energetic material (explosives, propellants, and pyrotechnics) can be initiated is a critical parameter to assess their safety and application. Impact sensitivity parameters are traditionally derived experimentally, at great cost and risk to safety. In this work we explore a fully ab initio Approach based on concepts of vibrational energy transfer to predict impact sensitivities for a series of chemically, structurally and energetically diverse molecular materials. The quality of DFT calculations is assessed for a subset of the materials by comparison with experimental inelastic neutron scattering spectra (INS). A variety of models are considered, including both qualitative and quantitative analysis of the vibrational spectra. Excellent agreement against experimental impact sensitivity is achieved by consideration of a multi-phonon ladder-type up-pumping mechanism that includes both overtone and combination pathways, and is improved further by the added consideration of temperature. This fully ab initio approach not only permits ranking of energetic materials in terms of their impact sensitivity but also provides a tool to guide the targeted design of advanced energetic compounds with tailored properties. KW - Energetic Materials KW - Prediction KW - Density Functional Theory PY - 2019 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-489328 VL - 7 IS - 33 SP - 19539 EP - 19553 PB - RSC AN - OPUS4-48932 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Konar, S. A1 - Michalchuk, Adam A1 - Sen, N. A1 - Bull, C. L. A1 - Morrison, C. A. A1 - Pulham, C. R. T1 - High-Pressure Study of Two Polymorphs of 2,4,6-Trinitrotoluene Using Neutron Powder Diffraction and Density Functional Theory Methods N2 - A high-pressure neutron diffraction study was conducted on polycrystalline samples of the two known polymorphs of 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene [monoclinic (m) and orthorhombic (o) TNT] under hydrostatic conditions. Isothermal equations of state were obtained for both polymorphic forms. Neither polymorph was observed to undergo a phase transition in the pressure region 0–5 GPa, with both polymorphs displaying smooth compression behavior across the pressure range. This differs somewhat from previous X-ray diffraction and Raman spectroscopy investigations in which discontinuities were observed in the P–V curves and spectral changes were reported at ∼2 GPa. The high-pressure response of these materials is supported by dispersion-corrected density functional theory calculations which, while overestimating the experimental bulk moduli, give excellent agreement with the observed smooth compression response of both phases. KW - Energetic Materials PY - 2019 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jpcc.9b07658 VL - 123 SP - 26095 EP - 26105 PB - ACS AN - OPUS4-49811 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER -