Nitrocellulose Synthesis from Miscanthus Cellulose

Abstract

The possibility of synthesizing nitrocellulose (NC) from an easily renewable non-woody feedstock, Miscanthus, is demonstrated herein. Nitration of Miscanthus cellulose with commercial mixed acid was found to afford high-quality NC: 11.85 % nitrogen content, 18 cP viscosity of 2 % NCacetone solution, 97 % solubility in alcohol-ester mixture, and 0.11 % ash content. The Miscanthus NC structure and fibers were characterized by analytical techniques such as SEM, IR spectroscopy, TGA/DTG, and 13 C NMR spectroscopy. The Miscanthus NC is comparable in quality to basic NC types used for the manufacture of films, membranes, lacquers, nail polish, liquid bandage, artificial silk and skin.

A Promising Energetic Polymer from Posidonia oceanica Brown Algae: Synthesis, Characterization, and Kinetic Modeling

“…Additionally, the bands appeared at 1080, 830, 765, and 685 cm −1 , are related to the stretching vibration of CO group, the nitrate ester (ONO 2 ) stretching vibration, and the asymmetric and symmetric deformations of the ONO 2 group . These absorption bands are associated with the typical characteristics of nitrocellulose molecule already reported . Furthermore, these results clearly provide evidence for the efficiency of the used nitration process to obtain NC2 and MCCN1 from POBA‐C and POBA‐MCC, respectively.…”

“…These findings can be sustained by the results reported in the literature. [1] It is interesting to point out that the nitrogen content of NC2 was comparable to that of NC obtained from alfa grass (12.54%), [1] and higher than those obtained for NC from flax straw (12.34%), [56] miscanthus (11.85%), [29] and rhizophora (11.40%). [8] This work also achieved higher nitrogen content of MCCN2 in comparison with that of MCCN produced from alfa grass (12.91%).…”

“…The absorption bands at 1650 and 1280 cm −1 are referred to the asymmetric and symmetric elongation vibrations of the NO 2 group . Moreover, the absorption band at 1430–1380 cm −1 is assigned to the asymmetric and symmetric bending vibration of CH 2 group . Additionally, the bands appeared at 1080, 830, 765, and 685 cm −1 , are related to the stretching vibration of CO group, the nitrate ester (ONO 2 ) stretching vibration, and the asymmetric and symmetric deformations of the ONO 2 group .…”

“…Whereas, these sources are widely used in other fields, such as building products, fabrication of pulp, and textile industry, which pushed the scientific community to explore alternative sources of cellulosic fibers based on non‐wood species like aquatic plants, grass, agricultural residues, and their by‐products. These latter have recently attracted significant interest as alternative sources of cellulose appropriate for NC production …”

“…These latter have recently attracted significant interest as alternative sources of cellulose appropriate for NC production. [28,29] Besides that, it has been reported that the origin of cellulose and its preliminary treatment influence the physicochemical, thermal, and energetic features of the produced NC and affect its microstructure. [1,10] On the other hand, the low combustion temperature, the high impact sensitivity, the high friability, and the low density have restricted the NC applications.…”