Polydopamine (PDA), inspired by the adhesive mussel foot proteins, is widely applied in chemical, biological, medical, and material science due to its unique surface coating capability and abundant active sites. Energetic materials (EMs) play an essential role in both military and civilian fields as a chemical energy source. Recently, PDA was introduced into EMs for the modification of crystal phase stability and the interfacial bonding effect, and, as a result, to enhance the mechanical, thermal, and safety performances. This mini-review summarizes the representative works in PDA modified EMs from three perspectives. Before that, the self-polymerization mechanisms of dopamine and the methods accelerating this process are briefly presented for consideration of researchers in this field. The future directions and remaining issues of PDA in this field are also discussed at last in this mini-review.

In order to reduce the ignition temperature and improve the combustion efficiency of aluminum powder, three aluminum-based alloy fuels, Al–Mg, Al–Zn, and Al–Si–Mg, were prepared by the atomization method. The oxidation, ignition, and combustion performance of alloy fuels were investigated, and the results showed that, using pure aluminum powder as a reference, the weight gain of alloy fuels increased from 10% to 84%, the reaction activation energy decreased from 582 kJ·mol⁻¹ to 208 kJ·mol⁻¹, the alloy fuels containing Mg had good ignition response, and aluminum-based alloy fuels showed high calorific value and efficient combustion as a whole. In order to investigate the combustion behavior of alloy fuels in the solid propellant, tests were conducted on the mechanics, safety, process, and combustion properties of propellant according to the national standard, and the test results showed that, compared with the propellant made of aluminum powder with same quality, the propellant made of alloy has better mechanical properties, higher frictional sensitivity, lower electrostatic sensitivity, comparable process performance, and increased combustion calorific value and combustion speed. Engine test results confirmed that Al–Zn and Al–Si–Mg alloy fuels could effectively improve the specific impulse efficiency of the solid propellant and reduced the residual rate of the engine.

2,4,6,8,10,12-hexanitro-2,4,6,8,10,12-hexaazaisowurtzitane (CL-20) is a widely used high-energy explosive for the application of energetic materials. However, the phase transformation from ε-CL-20 to γ-CL-20 restrains its further application in polymer bonded explosives (PBXs) and propellants. To inhibit the phase transition of CL-20, dopamine was first used in an efficient and facile method of in situ polymerization to passivate CL-20 crystals. The core-shell microcapsule particles were obtained, and the morphological characterization demonstrates the formation of a dense core-shell structure. The differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and in situ X-ray diffraction (XRD) test results show that the compact and dense coating delays the ε-CL-20 crystal transformation temperature by about 30 °C, which enhances thermal stability. In addition, with the coating via polymers, the friction sensitivity of ε-CL-20 crystals decreases significantly. The findings indicate a successful application of dopamine chemistry in high-energy explosives, which provides an attractive method to modify the properties of CL-20 crystals.

In this study, fluorinated polyurethane (FPU) was prepared from dialcohol-terminated perfluoropolyether as a soft segment; isophorone diisocyanate (IPDI) as a curing agent; 1,2,4-butanetriol (BT) as a crosslinker; and 1,4-butanediol (BDO) as a chain extender. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and ¹H NMR were used to characterize the structure of the FPU. The mechanical properties of the FPUs with different BDO and BT contents were also measured. The tensile strength and breaking elongation of the optimized FPU formula were 3.7 MPa and 412%, respectively. To find out the action mechanism of FPU on Al, FPU/Al was prepared by adding Al directly to FPU. The thermal decomposition of the FPU and FPU/Al was studied and compared by simultaneous differential scanning calorimetry-thermogravimetry-mass spectrometry (DSC-TG-MS). It was found that FPU can enhance the oxidation of Al by altering the oxide-shell properties. The combustion performance of the FPU propellant, compared with the corresponding hydroxyl-terminated polyether (HTPE)-based polyurethane (HPU) propellant, was recorded by a high-speed video camera. The FPU propellants were found to produce smaller agglomerates due to the generation of AlF₃ in the combustion process. These findings show that FPU may be a useful binder for tuning the agglomeration and reducing two-phase flow losses of aluminized propellants.