The ultra-fine HNS (2,2',4,4',6,6'-hexanitrostilbene) with desired properties is needed for military and civilian applications because of its reliable threshold energy to short impulse shock waves and its excellent thermal and shock stability. This paper reports on prefilming twin-fluid nozzle assisted precipitation (PTFN-P) to obtain ultra-fine HNS explosive with high specific surface area (SSA), high purity, and narrow particle size distribution. The properties of ultra-fine HNS have been confirmed by SEM, BET, HPLC, XRD, DSC and TGA-SDTA. SEM photograph revealed that the PTFN-P process offers ellipsoid crystalline morphology with particle size of 90-150 nm. The BET and Langmuir SSA of nanocrystalline HNS with purity of 99.44 wt.% were determined to be 19.28 m(2)/g and 29.26 m(2)/g, respectively. The XRD peaks of nanocrystalline HNS seemed to have similar diffraction angles as those of synthesized HNS, and the weakening of peak strength was observed apparently. DSC results of the nanocrystalline HNS showed that the exothermic decomposing at the temperature range of 323-398 degrees C. Furthermore, HNS samples were submitted to impact and small scale gap test and the results indicated that nanocrystalline HNS is less sensitive than synthesized HNS (50 mu m) to impact and shock stimuli. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.