Editing HMX (section)

==Applications==
Also known as cyclotetramethylene-tetranitramine, tetrahexamine tetranitramine, or {{chem name|octahydro-1,3,5,7-tetranitro-1,3,5,7-tetrazocine}}, HMX was first made in 1930. In 1949 it was discovered that HMX can be prepared by [[nitrolysis]] of RDX. Nitrolysis of RDX is performed by dissolving RDX in a 55% [[Nitric acid|HNO<sub>3</sub>]] solution, followed by placing the solution on a steambath for about six hours.<ref>WE Bachmann, JC Sheehan (1949). "A New Method of Preparing the High Explosive RDX1". ''Journal of the American Chemical Society'', 1949 (5):1842–1845.</ref> HMX is used almost exclusively in military applications, including as the detonator in [[atomic weapon|nuclear weapons]], in the form of [[polymer-bonded explosive]], and as a solid-[[rocket]] [[solid propellant|propellant]].

HMX is used in melt-castable explosives when mixed with [[trinitrotoluene|TNT]], which as a class are referred to as "[[octol]]s". Additionally, [[polymer-bonded explosive]] compositions containing HMX are used in the manufacture of missile [[warhead]]s and armor-piercing [[shaped charge]]s.

HMX is also used in the process of [[Perforation (oil well)|perforating the steel casing in oil and gas wells]].  The HMX is built into a shaped charge that is detonated within the wellbore to punch a hole through the steel casing and surrounding cement out into the hydrocarbon-bearing formations.  The pathway that is created allows formation fluids to flow into the wellbore and onward to the surface.<ref>{{Citation|title=Casing Perforation Overview|first = Brad|last = Hansen|contribution = Technical Presentation Session 3: Drilling and Completion Casing Perforating Overview|contribution-url=https://www.epa.gov/sites/default/files/documents/casingperforatedoverview.pdf|series = EPA's Study of Hydraulic Fracturing and Its Potential Impact on Drinking Water Resources| date=11 March 2013 |publisher = U.S. Environmental Protection Agency | url = https://www.epa.gov/hfstudy/casing-perforating-overview}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Liu |first1=He |last2=Wang |first2=Feng |last3=Weng |first3=Yucai |last4=Gao |first4=Yang |last5=Cheng |first5=Jianlong |date=December 2014 |title= Oil well perforation technology: Status and prospects|journal= Petroleum Exploration and Development|volume= 41|issue= 6|pages=798–804 |doi=10.1016/S1876-3804(14)60096-3 |bibcode=2014PEDO...41..798L |doi-access=free }}</ref>

The ''[[Hayabusa2]]'' space probe used HMX to excavate a hole in an [[asteroid]] in order to access material that had not been exposed to the [[solar wind]].<ref>{{cite journal | doi =10.1016/j.actaastro.2012.11.010|bibcode = 2013AcAau..84..227S | title =Small carry-on impactor of Hayabusa2 mission | year =2013 | last1 =Saiki | first1 =Takanao | last2 =Sawada | first2 =Hirotaka | last3 =Okamoto | first3 =Chisato | last4 =Yano | first4 =Hajime | last5 =Takagi | first5 =Yasuhiko | last6 =Akahoshi | first6 =Yasuhiro | last7 =Yoshikawa | first7 =Makoto | journal =Acta Astronautica | volume =84 | pages =227–236 }}</ref>

Ongoing research aims to reduce its sensitivity and improve some manufacturing properties.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Kosareva|first1=Ekaterina K.|last2=Zharkov|first2=Mikhail N.|last3=Meerov|first3=Dmitry B.|last4=Gainutdinov|first4=Radmir V.|last5=Fomenkov|first5=Igor V.|last6=Zlotin|first6=Sergei G.|last7=Pivkina|first7=Alla N.|last8=Kuchurov|first8=Ilya V.|last9=Muravyev|first9=Nikita V.|date=January 2022|title=HMX surface modification with polymers via sc-CO2 antisolvent process: A way to safe and easy-to-handle energetic materials|url=https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S1385894721029442|journal=Chemical Engineering Journal|language=en|volume=428|pages=131363|doi=10.1016/j.cej.2021.131363}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Lin|first1=Congmei|last2=Zeng|first2=Chengcheng|last3=Wen|first3=Yushi|last4=Gong|first4=Feiyan|last5=He|first5=Guansong|last6=Li|first6=Yubin|last7=Yang|first7=Zhijian|last8=Ding|first8=Ling|last9=Li|first9=Jiang|last10=Guo|first10=Shaoyun|date=2020-01-22|title=Litchi-like Core–Shell HMX@HPW@PDA Microparticles for Polymer-Bonded Energetic Composites with Low Sensitivity and High Mechanical Properties|url=https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acsami.9b20323|journal=ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces|language=en|volume=12|issue=3|pages=4002–4013|doi=10.1021/acsami.9b20323|pmid=31874021 |s2cid=209473864 |issn=1944-8244}}</ref>