Abstract : The phase behavior of explosive substances is important for the proper design of stable explosive devices. However, the equilibrium behavior of chemical compounds can be difficult to assess, because thermodynamic and kinetic behaviors are generally convoluted in the experimental results. The phase behavior of TNT is a case in point. A thorough review of the literature data demonstrates that the orthorhombic polymorph is the most stable under ambient conditions. Using the topological approach for the construction of a pressure-temperature phase diagram, it can be shown that all data is consistent with an overall enantiotropic system. Nonetheless, it is also clear that the differences between the orthorhombic and the monoclinic polymorphs are relatively small and that the driving force of interconversion between the two under ambient conditions is therefore limited.
