PBX was first developed in 1952 at Los Alamos National Laboratory, as RDX embedded in polystyrene with diisooctyl phthalate (DEHP) plasticizer.
[2] Polymer-bonded explosives have several potential advantages: Fluoropolymers are advantageous as binders due to their high density (yielding high detonation velocity) and inert chemical behavior (yielding long shelf stability and low aging).
Crosslinked rubber polymers are however sensitive to aging, mostly by action of free radicals and by hydrolysis of the bonds by traces of water vapor.
[1] Explosive yields can be affected by the introduction of mechanical loads or the application of temperature; such damages are called insults.
Presence of defects in crystals (cracks, voids, solvent inclusions...) may increase the explosive's sensitivity to mechanical shocks.