Preparation, characterization and molecular dynamics of novel pre-plasticized nitrocellulose composite microspheres containing burning rate catalysts

In this contribution, pristine nitrocellulose (NC) and novel NC/glycidyl azide polymer (GAP) composite microspheres with uniformly dispersed burning rate catalysts, a high degree of roundness and excellent fluidity, were successfully prepared using a solution blending procedure. The burning rate cat...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of energetic materials 2021-04, Vol.39 (2), p.228-245
Main Authors: Wu, Yanguang, Chai, Kuan, Cai, Lu, Yi, Zhuangcheng
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Blending effects
Burning rate
Catalysts
Cellulose esters
Cellulose nitrate
Composite materials
Distribution functions
Glycidyl azide polymer
Heat transfer
Hydrogen bonding
Microspheres
Molecular dynamics
Nitrocellulose microsphere
plasticizing mechanism
Polymers
Radial distribution
Roundness
Solution blending
theoretical simulation
Thermal decomposition
Van der Waals forces
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Summary:In this contribution, pristine nitrocellulose (NC) and novel NC/glycidyl azide polymer (GAP) composite microspheres with uniformly dispersed burning rate catalysts, a high degree of roundness and excellent fluidity, were successfully prepared using a solution blending procedure. The burning rate catalysts had an apparent catalytic effect on the thermal decomposition of the novel composite microspheres and promoted their heat release. Furthermore, molecular dynamics simulation was conducted to explore the plasticizing mechanism of GAP. NC/GAP showed improvements in free volume and radius of rotation of 82.14% and a 50.13%, respectively, compared to pristine NC, indicating that GAP molecules had increased mobility in the NC matrix. In addition, the radial distribution function showed that NC/GAP exhibited higher intermolecular intensities from both hydrogen bonding and van der Waals forces compared to those of pristine NC, which was consistent with the value obtained for the average intermolecular interaction energy. The experimental and computational studies showed that there may be good potential for the design and manufacture of novel pre-plasticized NC composite microspheres having low vulnerability and good plasticizing performance for preparation of propellant.
ISSN:0737-0652
1545-8822
DOI:10.1080/07370652.2020.1776418