New Insights into the Photochemical Degradation of the Insensitive Munition Formulation IMX-101 in Water

This study describes photolysis of the insensitive munition formulation IMX-101 [2,4-dinitroanisole (DNAN), NQ (nitroguanidine), and 3-nitro-1,2,4-triazol-5-one (NTO)] in aqueous solutions using a solar simulating photoreactor. Due to a large variance in the water solubility of the three constituents DNAN (276 mg L–1), NQ (5,000 mg L–1), and NTO (16,642 mg L–1), two solutions of IMX-101 were prepared: one with low concentration (109.3 mg L–1) and another with high concentration (2831 mg L–1). The degradation rate constants of DNAN, NQ, and NTO (0.137, 0.075, and 0.202 d–1, respectively) in the low concentration solution were lower than those of the individually photolyzed components (0.262, 1.181, and 0.349 d–1, respectively). In the high concentration solution, the molar loss of NTO was 4.3 times higher than that of NQ after 7 days of irradiation, although NQ was two times more concentrated and that NQ alone degraded faster than NTO. In addition to the known degradation products, DNAN removal in IMX-101 ...