  Even a single excess electron or ion migrating on the surface of sensitive
explosives can catalyze their gradual exothermic decomposition. Mechanisms
underlying such a charge-induced gradual thermal decomposition of highly
sensitive explosives can be different. If sensitive explosive is a polar
liquid, intense charge-dipole attraction between excess surface charges and
surrounding explosive molecules can result in repetitive attempts of solvation
of these charges by polar explosive molecules. Every attempt of such
uncompleted nonequilibrium solvation causes local exothermic decomposition of
thermolabile polar molecules accompanied by further thermal jumping unsolvated
excess charges to new surface sites. Thus, ionized mobile hot spots emerge on
charged explosive surface. Stochastic migration of ionized hot spots on
explosive surface causes gradual exothermic decomposition of the whole mass of
the polar explosive. The similar gradual charge-catalyzed exothermic
decomposition of both polar and nonpolar highly sensitive explosives can be
also caused by intense charge-dipole attacks of surrounding water vapor
molecules electrostatically attracted from ambient humid air and strongly
accelerated towards charged sites on explosive surfaces. Emission of electrons,
photons and heat from ionized hot spots randomly migrating on charged surface
of highly sensitive explosive aerosol nanoparticles converts such particles
into the form of short-circuited thermionic nanobatteries.
