Mordenite zeolite for scavenging nitroxide radicals and its effect on the thermal decomposition of nitrocellulose

ABSTRACT

Nitrogen oxides (NO_x), which result from the decomposition of nitrocellulose (NC)-based solid propellants, promote the degradation of this later and alter its long-term stability. Thus, to avoid such situation and ensure a better stability, conventional stabilizers such as aromatic amines or urea compounds are usually added to the NC-based formulations. However, these latter may generate carcinogenic and toxic species that may negatively affect both human health and environment. Herein, based on its selective adsorption capacity of NO_x, the stability potential of a porous inorganic compound, namely, mordenite (MOR), on nitrocellulose was assessed. Three NC-based samples (S1–S3) were prepared through the incorporation of 3 wt.% of stabilizing agents, i.e., S1: pure NC, S2: NC + DPA, and S3: NC + MOR. The effect on the stability of this inorganic compound with regard to pure NC has been highlighted utilizing stability tests and kinetic modeling. Beforehand, the compatibility of mordenite with nitrocellulose was initially checked by means of DSC and FTIR. Furthermore, the obtained results via Vacuum Stability Test (VST) and Bergmann–Junk (B&J) test demonstrated that S3 displayed a better stability than S1 and comparable behavior to S2. The determination of the kinetic triplet by isoconversional methods confirmed the effectiveness of MOR as a stabilizing agent. These findings claim that such inorganic compound may be used efficiently as a stabilizer for NC-based energetic formulations.

KEYWORDS:

• Kinetic modeling
• mordenite
• nitrocellulose
• stability tests
• thermal decomposition

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.