Effect of faujasite zeolites on the thermal stability and degradation kinetics of nitrocellulose

Abstract

ABSTRACT In the present work, to enhance the thermal stability of nitrocellulose (NC), the effect of inorganic stabilizers, namely, Y-ammonium or Y-hydrogen zeolites, has been investigated. Comparative tests were conducted to assess the physicochemical properties and thermal behavior of the nitrocellulose supplemented with these substances. Various analytical techniques were employed. The obtained results highlighted the exceptional scavenging performance of these inorganic stabilizers. Notably, the NC/Y-ammonium and NC/Y-hydrogen samples exhibited higher retention of NO x , compared to NC/diphenylamine (DPA). The FTIR spectra of the NC/stabilizer systems revealed that the morphology and chemical structure of the conventional NC remained unaltered with the incorporation of 3 wt.% of stabilizer. Moreover, the B&J and VST tests indicated that the stability of the NC/stabilizer blends, specifically those incorporating NC/Y-ammonium and NC/Y-hydrogen zeolites, surpassed that of both pure NC and NC/DPA samples. It is also revealed that Y-ammonium and Y-hydrogen zeolites have a minimal impact on the decomposition temperature of NC (Ea = 137 kJ.mol−1, log (A) > 12.7 s−1), but exhibit a significant increase in the apparent activation energy and pre-exponential factor (Δ Ea > 33–43 kJ.mol−1, Δ log (A) > 2.3–4.9 s−1). These findings highlight promising aspects of utilizing inorganic stabilizers to substitute DPA in the industrial production of energetic materials.