Nitrate Ester Decomposition and Degradation of Molecular Weight in Nitrocellulose from Thermal Decomposition of PBX-9404 Below 100 exp 0 C

摘要

The thermal decomposition of nitrate ester (-ONO sub 2 ) in the nitrocellulose (NC) binder of PBX-9404 was studied. Evidence was found that the tri-esterified NC subunits decompose most readily; by calculating the relative populations of mono-, di-, and tri-esterfied subunits and monitoring NC composition as a function of (-ONO sub 2 ) loss, the extent of degradation of the NC molecular weight was estimated. Decomposition of (-ONO sub 2 ) obeyed second-order kinetics, and the activation energy for decomposition (26.1 kcal/mol) agreed with values calculated on the basis of weight loss or the amount of evolved gas. (ERA citation 04:052126)