Energetic composite materials (ECMs) are the basic materials of polymer binder explosives and composite solid propellants, which are mainly composed of explosive crystals and binders. During the manufacturing, storage and use of ECMs, the bonding surface is prone to micro/fine cracks or defects caused by external stimuli such as temperature, humidity and impact, affecting the safety and service of ECMs. Therefore, substantial efforts have been devoted to designing suitable self-healing binders aimed at repairing cracks/defects. This review describes the research progress on self-healing binders for ECMs. The structural designs of these strategies to manipulate macro-molecular and/or supramolecular polymers are discussed in detail, and then the implementation of these strategies on ECMs is discussed. However, the reasonable configuration of robust microstructures and effective dynamic exchange are still challenges. Therefore, the prospects for the development of self-healing binders for ECMs are proposed. These critical insights are emphasized to guide the research on developing novel self-healing binders for ECMs in the future.

In the light of the azeotrope of ethyl acetate-ethanol-water, a process of pressure-swing distillation is proposed. The separation process is simulated by Aspen Plus, and the effects of theoretical stage number, reflux ratio and feed stage about the pressure-swing distillation are optimized. Some better process parameters are as follows: for ethyl acetate refining tower, the pressure is 500.0 kPa, theoretical stage number is 16, reflux ratio is 0.6, feed stage is 5; for crude ethanol tower, the pressure is 101.3 kPa, theoretical stage number is 15, reflux ratio is 0.3, feed stage is 4; for ethanol tower, the pressure is 101.3 kPa, theoretical stage number is 25, reflux ratio is 1.2, feed stage is 10. The mass fraction of ethyl acetate in the bottom of the ethyl acetate refining tower reaches 0.9990, the mass fraction of ethanol in the top of the ethanol tower tower reaches 0.9017, the mass fraction of water in the bottom of the ethanol tower tower reaches 0.9622, and there is also no ethyl acetate in the bottom of the ethanol tower. With laboratory tests, experimental results are in good agreement with the simulation results, which indicates that the separation of ethyl acetate ethanol water can be realized by the pressure-swing distillation separation process. Moreover, it has certain practical significance to industrial practice.

Mechanical properties and reprocessing properties are of great significance to the serviceability and recyclability of energetic composites. However, the mechanical robustness of mechanical properties and dynamic adaptability related to reprocessing properties are inherent contradictions, which are difficult to optimize at the same time. This paper proposed a novel molecular strategy. Multiple hydrogen bonds derived from acyl semicarbazides could construct dense hydrogen bonding arrays, strengthening physical cross-linking networks. The zigzag structure was used to break the regular arrangement formed by the tight hydrogen bonding arrays, so as to improve the dynamic adaptability of the polymer networks. The disulfide exchange reaction further excited the polymer chains to form a new “topological entanglement”, thus improving the reprocessing performance. The designed binder (D2000-ADH-SS) and nano-Al were prepared as energetic composites. Compared with the commercial binder, D2000-ADH-SS simultaneously optimized the strength and toughness of energetic composites. Due to the excellent dynamic adaptability of the binder, the tensile strength and toughness of the energetic composites still maintained the initial values, 96.69% and 92.89%, respectively, even after three hot-pressing cycles. The proposed design strategy provides ideas for the design and preparation of recyclable composites and is expected to promote the future application in energetic composites.