Effect of explosion conditions on the structure of detonation soots: Ultradisperse diamond and onion carbon

Abstract

Detonations of a number of pure and composite explosives with the negative oxygen balance in a hermetic tank filled with inert gas (N 2, Ar) have yielded the diamond containing solid carbonaceous products (soots). The influence of detonation parameters, namely (a) the inert gas pressure in the tank decreasing the effective temperature of detonation products, and (b) the composition of explosives determining the detonation pressure and temperature, on the nature and the yield of detonation soots have been investigated by TEM, XRD, SAXS, and auger spectroscopy. The soots contain ultradisperse diamond (UDD, 20–150 Å) along with amorphous carbon (40–250 Å), graphite ribbons (with length less than 200 Å), and spheres (20–40 Å) made of concentric graphite shells (onion-like carbon, registered only in the experiments with low initial inert gas pressure). It was shown that UDD thermally transformed into onion-like carbon particles. The detonation parameters have been optimized to increase the UDD yield.