Preparation and Performance of Insensitive Spherical Nano-Sized Nitrocellulose

Abstract

The sensitivity study of energetic materials has been the focus of research interests, and a great deal of achievement has been gained in this field of energetic materials other than nitrocellulose. Recently, energetic thermoplastic elastomers have been used as binders to replace nitrocellulose to prepare the insensitive high-energy propellants. However, these binders still have some defects. Preparation and application of insensitive nitrocellulose may overcome these drawbacks. In order to reduce the sensitivity of nitrocellulose, the spherical nano-sized nitrocellulose was prepared by pretreatment, degradation and nitration of cellulose. Products were characterized by TEM, XRD, TG, DSC and sensitivity test, respectively. Results show that the prepared nano-sized cellulose is spherical particles with diameters in the range of 15-30nm. Contrast with the traditional nitrocellulose, the spherical nano-sized nitrocellulose has more moderate thermal decomposition process and lower impact sensitivity.