A pioneering team at the University of Hyderabad, led by researcher Koalla Rajesh and senior professor Anil Kumar Chaudhary from the School of Physics, has achieved a significant breakthrough: a dramatically safer and more efficient way to analyze highly sensitive explosives.
Traditionally, studying high-energy materials, especially primary explosives, has been fraught with danger. Their extreme sensitivity to shock, grinding, and compression makes direct preparation of pure pellets incredibly hazardous, posing substantial risks during characterization.
To overcome these formidable challenges, the Hyderabad-based researchers devised an ingenious solution. They carefully blended the explosives with a special low-absorption binding matrix. This innovative approach allowed for the safe preparation of pellets. Critically, by employing sophisticated Effective Medium Theory (EMT) models, they could then precisely extract the inherent optical and dielectric properties of the pure explosives from these composite pellets – a vital step that paves the way for numerous real-world applications.
This groundbreaking research, which promises to enhance safety protocols in handling energetic materials, was recently featured in the prestigious peer-reviewed journal ‘Infrared Physics & Technology,’ as announced by the university.