REPUBLIC OF SERBIA

MINISTRY OF DEFENCE

www.mod.gov.rs

MINISTRY OF DEFENCE

Material Resources Sector

Defensive Technologies Department

Military Technical Institute

www.vti.mod.gov.rs

PHYSICO-CHEMICAL PROPERTIES AND THERMAL STABILITY OF MICROCRYSTALLINE NITROCELLULOSE ISOLATED FROM WOOD FIBER

MOHAMMED AMIN DALI

Military Academy, University of Defence, Belgrade, PhD researcher, dalima380@gmail.com

Abstract: The nitrocellulose (NC), which was discovered in 1832, has a great importance in the military field. In fact,  it is considered as the quasi-universal material for gunpowder, double base propellants and composite double base propellants. The purpose of this study is divided in two parts. The first part is to improve the performances and properties of microcrystalline nitrocellulose samples that are prepared in the laboratory and to compare them with conventional nitrocellulose during the artificial ageing: using FTIR and XRD. In the second part, the aim is to improve the thermal stability of nitrocellulose samples with two kinds of stabilizers (ethyl centralite and N-(2-acetoxyethyl)-p-nitroaniline which was tested via DSC, using 3 % by weight of the stabilizer for each preparation. All samples are subjected to artificial ageing. Then, the thermal degradation is evaluated using non isothermal kinetic models in order to investigate the thermal degradation energy variation (activation energy, Ea). In addition, the present work has demonstrated that DSC measurements allow to evaluate the actual state of the nitrocellulose and to prove that this analytical technique is capable to distinguish the differences in  thermal decomposition processes in nitrocellulose during ageing as well as to determine the storage time.

Keywords: wood, cellulose, nitrocellulose, microcrystallinity, ageing.