2,4-Dinitroimidazole (2,4-DNI) is a novel energetic material with much less sensitive and potential for use as a propellant/insensitive munition (IM) formulations. 2,4-DNI possess high thermal stability and less sensitivity as compared to RDX and HMX which are high explosives extensively used at present. This paper reports a detailed thermal study of 2,4-DNI using various instrumental techniques. The activation energy (E = 205 +/- 15 kJ/mol) was calculated from thermal decomposition of 2,4-DNI using DSC at different heating rate. The ignition temperature of pure 2,4-DNI was measured and showed at 285 degrees C. The TGA experiments demonstrate that 2,4-DNI decomposes in three steps with 92% total weight lose. Moreover, the effect of thermal energy on decomposition of 2,4-DNI in presence of polymeric binders like GAP and HTPB were investigated. Further, decomposition mechanisms of 2,4-DNI based on Electron Impact mass spectra analysis were also reported along with its explosive properties. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.