La nitrocelulosa en explosivos: propiedades y caracterización química

Nitrocellulose, discovered by Schonbein in 1846, has different applications depending mainly on its manufacturing process and its degree of nitration. The nitrocellulose with a high degree of nitration (> 12 %) is used in smokeless powder and dynamites. To date, few studies on characterization and analytical determination of nitrocellulose in explosives have been performed. With this objec- tive, spectrometric and separation techniques, as well as thermal analysis, are very often employed. Nevertheless, the enormous chemi- cal and structural heterogeneity of the nitrocellulose makes its analysis a current challenging task.