Submission + - N6 aka Hexanitrogen synthesized for the first time, twice as energy dense as TNT (nature.com)
ffkom writes: The air around you mostly consists of Nitrogen, which exists in happy little monogamous pairs of two atoms per molecule, also known as N2. Researchers from the University of Giessen, Germany, recently managed to synthesize for the first time in history N6 molecules, and those appear to be pretty angry little molecules, as they detonate at more than twice the energy density than good old TNT:
A kiloton of N6 is 1.19×107mol, which can release an energy of 2.20×109kcal (9.21terajoules) based on the enthalpy (H0). Considering that the standard kiloton TNT equivalent is 4.184terajoules, N6 can release 2.2 times the energy of TNT of the same weight. On the basis of the documented TNT equivalent based on weight for HMX (1.15) and RDX (1.15)50, N6 can release 1.9 times the energy of HMX or RDX with the same weight.
In interviews the researchers contemplated the possibility of using N6 as rocket fuel, given its superior energy density and that its reaction product is just N2, so basically air, but no smoke, no CO2 or other potentially harmful substances.
