A new high energy but low explosion temperature gun propellant component: nitrogen-rich tetrazole derivative grafted nitrocellulose

Abstract

In order to apply the high nitrogen-content tetrazole derivatives (TZD), a class of energy materials with great potential, into gun propellant, we propose a novel idea that grafting the acidized TZD onto cellulose and then nitrifying the grafted cellulose to obtain nitrocellulose grafted by TZD (TZDNC). Theoretical predictions suggest that Replacing nitrocellulose (NC) with TZDNC, due to having higher nitrogen-content of TZDNC than traditional NC, can evidently reduce the ablation to gun tube, smoke and flame around muzzle of gun tube. The replacement not only solves the incompatibility of TZD with the other components such as NG, RDX and HMX, but maintains the nearly gun powder power of gun propellant before replacing.