The modified attachment energy model was applied to predict the crystal morphology of hexanitrohexaazaisowurtzitane/1,3-dinitrobenzene (HNIW/DNB) cocrystal in ethanol. A double-layer interface structure was established based on experiments. Molecular dynamics simulation was employed to investigate the interaction of flat faces and ethanol solvents. We used periodic bond chains and roughness calculations to analyze the characteristics of the HNIW/DNB cocrystal. The crystal morphology of the HNIW/DNB cocrystal is mainly composed of the (001), (010), (102), and (111) faces in vacuum. The (001) face occupies the largest area (49.54%). In ethanol, the area of the (001) face increases to 68.58%. Ethanol molecules are adsorbed on the polar face through hydrogen bonding. In the slowest growth direction, two HNIW layers and one DNB layer alternately appear. The higher molecular recognition of the (001) face of HNIW/DNB resulted in this face becoming the most important growth face. Meanwhile, we also predicted the crystal morphologies of ε-HNIW and DNB in ethanol. The prediction morphologies are in excellent agreement with the experimental shapes. These simulation results can provide guidance for the recrystallization of HNIW/DNB.
Crystal morphology of 3,4-bis(3-nitrofurazan-4-yl)furoxan (DNTF) in a solvent system: molecular dynamics simulation and sensitivity study
