Polymer-bonded explosive

Not to be confused with plastic explosive.

Polymer-bonded explosives, also called PBX or plastic-bonded explosives, are explosive materials in which explosive powder is bound together in a matrix using small quantities (typically 5–10% by weight) of a synthetic polymer. PBXs are normally used for explosive materials that are not easily melted into a casting, or are otherwise difficult to form.

PBX was first developed in 1952 at Los Alamos National Laboratory, as RDX embedded in polystyrene with diisooctyl phthalate (DEHP) plasticizer. HMX compositions with teflon-based binders were developed in 1960s and 1970s for gun shells and for Apollo Lunar Surface Experiments Package (ALSEP) seismic experiments,[1] although the latter experiments are usually cited as using hexanitrostilbene (HNS).[2]

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference chemexpl was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ James R.Bates; W.W.Lauderdale; Harold Kernaghan (April 1979). "ALSEP (Apollo Lunar Surface Experiments Package) Termination Report" (pdf-8.81 mb). NASA-Scientific and Technical Information Office. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2010-01-13. Retrieved 2014-06-29.