By South China Morning Post | Created at 2025-01-15 13:31:40 | Updated at 2025-01-15 16:25:13
2 hours ago
Chinese scientists have developed a surprisingly simple method to significantly increase the overall performance of the most powerful explosive on the planet.
This development not only promises to increase the lethality of conventional warheads in China, but can increase the range of hypersonic missiles by 20 per cent.
Known as the “king of explosives”, CL-20 has a destructive power second only to nuclear weapons. But the new processing method has seen its detonation performance improve and its safety benchmark increase up to fourfold, paving the way for a host of new applications, such as missile fuel, according to researchers involved in the study.
This was previously thought to be no more than a fairy tale.
“It’s as if a magician has turned the angry king of explosives into a beautiful queen – and the magic wand he used costs less than a dollar,” said a Beijing-based energetic materials scientist who was not involved in the study.
“I really like this creative approach. It can be a sign that scientific research in China is entering the kingdom of freedom,” he said.
