High-substitute nitrochitosan used as energetic materials: Preparation and detonation properties

Nitration of Chitin Monomer: From Glucosamine to Energetic Compound

The nitration of chitin monomer in a mixture of nitric acid and acetic anhydride was conducted and a highly nitrated (3R,4R,6R)-3-acetamido-6-((nitrooxy)methyl)tetrahydro-2H-pyran-2,4,5-triyl trinitrate (1) was obtained. Its structure was fully characterized using infrared spectroscopy, NMR spectroscopy, elemental analysis, and X-ray diffraction. Compound 1 possesses good density (ρ: 1.721 g·cm⁻³) and has comparable detonation performance (V_d: 7717 m·s⁻¹; P: 25.6 GPa) to that of nitrocellulose (NC: V_d: 7456 m·s⁻¹; P: 23 GPa; I_sp = 239 s) and microcrystalline nitrocellulose (MCNC; V_d: 7683 m·s⁻¹; P: 25 GPa; I_sp = 250 s). However, Compound 1 has much lower impact sensitivity (IS: 15 J) than the regular nitrocellulose (NC; IS: 3.2 J) and MCNC (IS: 2.8 J). Compound 1 was calculated to exhibit a good specific impulse (I_sp: 240 s), which is comparable with NC (I_sp: 239 s) and MCNC (I_sp: 250 s). By replacing the nitrocellulose with Compound 1 in typical propellants JA2, M30, and M9, the specific impulse was improved by up to 4 s. These promising properties indicate that Compound 1 has a significant potential as an energetic component in solid propellants.

New insensitive high-energy dense biopolymers from giant reed cellulosic fibers: their synthesis, characterization, and non-isothermal decomposition kinetics

Renewable giant reed has been explored for the first time to develop new advanced high-energy dense biopolymers through carbamate surface functionalization and nitration of native cellulose and cellulose microcrystals.

A promising energetic biopolymer based on azide-functionalized microcrystalline cellulose: Synthesis and characterization

In the current investigation, azidodeoxy-microcrystalline cellulose nitrate (AMCCN) as a novel promising nitrogen-rich energetic biopolymer was synthesized, and its features were compared to those of azidodeoxy-pristine cellulose nitrate (APCN), conventional cellulose nitrate (PCN) and microcrystalline cellulose nitrate (MCCN). The produced nitrated samples and their precursors were fully characterized using various analytical techniques. In addition, the heats of combustion and mechanical sensitivities of all nitrated biopolymers were evaluated, and their energetic performances were predicted by EXPLO5 V6.04 software. The obtained results provide evidence for the effectiveness of the applied chemical functionalization approach to synthesize the relatively insensitive AMCCN and APCN with nitrogen content of 22.75 % and 22.50 %, density of 1.718 g/cm³ and 1.706 g/cm³, and detonation velocity of 7707 m/s and 7533 m/s, respectively, which are higher than those of PCN. This work opens avenues to design promising energetic biopolymers based on renewable microcrystalline cellulose for potential application in advanced high performance solid propellants and explosives.