Effect of 3-methyl-4-nitro-furoxan on morphology, thermal stability, rheological and mechanical properties of nitrocellulose (NC)-based energetic materials

Preliminary Study on Characteristics of NC/HTPB-Based High-Energy Gun Propellants

This study mainly explored the characteristics of NC/HTPB-based high-energy gun propellants with RDX, CL-20 or TKX-50 by experimental method. Three series of test samples were prepared referring to the formulation of M1 single-base gun propellant (M1 SBP). The thermochemical characteristics, chemical stability, explosion heat, impact and friction sensitivities of prepared samples were determined by simultaneous differential scanning calorimetry–thermogravimetric analysis (STA DSC–TGA), vacuum stability tester (VST), bomb calorimeter (BC), BAM fallhammer and BAM friction tester, respectively, and compared with those of the reference sample M1. The experimental results indicated that the thermochemical characteristics of NC/HTPB-based high-energy gun propellants were similar to those of M1 SBP. The NC/HTPB-based high-energy gun propellants had good chemical stability and were superior to M1 SBP. The explosion heat of NC/HTPB-based high-energy gun propellants was close to and slightly larger than that of M1 SBP. In addition, the NC/HTPB-based high-energy gun propellants had lower impact and friction sensitivities than the M1 SBP. Therefore, the NC/HTPB-based high-energy gun propellants have the potential to replace the M1 SBP. The combustion performances of NC/HTPB-based high-energy gun propellants will be continuously studied and verified in the future.

Simultaneous determination of the component ratio and moisture content in TEGDN/NG composites by the qNMR method

A novel qNMR method was developed for the simultaneous determination of the component ratio and moisture content in triethyleneglycol dinitrate (TEGDN) and nitroglycerin (NG) composites. Using the ERETIC module technique of NMR spectrometry, moisture in the solvent and internal standard were eliminated by the integral value subtraction method, and the component ratio and moisture content in TEGDN/NG composites could be accurately calculated. Method validation was carried out in terms of the precision, stability, linearity, recovery, robustness, limit of quantification (LOQ) and limit of detection (LOD). The results of the qNMR method show good accuracy compared with the HPLC and Karl Fischer methods. Statistical Student's t-test and F-test at the 95% confidence level proved that there was no significant difference between the qNMR method and the other two methods. For TEGDN/NG composites of high-energy and high-sensitivity explosives, the low dose and high efficiency of the qNMR method could effectively avoid the danger of explosion and burning.