Review of the decomposition and energy release mechanisms of novel energetic materials

Nowadays, some new materials with high-energy as well as a certain stability are emerging as the novel energetic materials (EMs), such as all-nitrogen energetic ionic compounds (EICs), high-pressure EMs, and special-structure EMs. These novel EMs differ much from traditional EMs in their intrinsic structure, and exhibit different decomposition and energy release mechanisms, which are attracting increasing attention. However, there is still a lack of a comprehensive summary of the mechanisms. In view of this, this paper reviews for the first time the research progress of representative novel EMs in terms of the decomposition and energy release mechanisms, including the decomposition reaction path, energy barrier, reaction rate and reaction products, as well as the magnitude and speed of energy release, and compares them with traditional EMs. Finally, the existing issues and application potential in current novel EMs are proposed to guide future research directions. This paper will clarify the similarities and differences in decomposition and energy release mechanisms between novel and traditional EMs, and provide beneficial inspiration for the continuous innovation and application of EMs.