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<p>Waste munitions-grade nitrocellulose (NC), a cellulose-based energetic polymer, exhibits high nitrogen content and poor thermal stability, posing significant challenges for its sustainable utilization. In this work, a hydrazine hydrate/ethanol aqueous system is proposed as a controllable denitration strategy to precisely regulate the nitrogen content of NC, thereby enabling the adjustment of its molecular structure and thermal behavior. In ethanol-assisted hydrazine hydrolysis, nitrate groups are selectively removed while the polymer backbone remains intact, and the nitrogen content decreases from 12.83 to 11.60%. The activation energy of thermal decomposition increases from 181.58 ± 9.73 to 277.40 ± 15.41 kJ&#xa0;mol<sup>-1</sup>, confirming a significant enhancement in thermal stability. DFT calculations and molecular dynamics simulations together demonstrate that ethanol enhances the interaction between hydrazine hydrate and the nitrate ester groups of NC, thereby significantly promoting the denitration reaction. Overall, this work provides a safe and effective approach for transforming waste NC into thermally stable polymeric materials, offering new insights into the controlled modification and resource recovery of nitrate-ester-functionalized polymers.</p> Graphical abstract <p></p>

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Regulation of nitrogen content and thermal stability in nitrocellulose

  • 期刊论文

  • 发表日期：

    2026年7月19日

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  • Yang Li,
  • Honglei Fan,
  • Shiying Li,
  • Congyong Cheng,
  • Xiaoqing Wu,
  • Zhongliang Xiao

摘要

Waste munitions-grade nitrocellulose (NC), a cellulose-based energetic polymer, exhibits high nitrogen content and poor thermal stability, posing significant challenges for its sustainable utilization. In this work, a hydrazine hydrate/ethanol aqueous system is proposed as a controllable denitration strategy to precisely regulate the nitrogen content of NC, thereby enabling the adjustment of its molecular structure and thermal behavior. In ethanol-assisted hydrazine hydrolysis, nitrate groups are selectively removed while the polymer backbone remains intact, and the nitrogen content decreases from 12.83 to 11.60%. The activation energy of thermal decomposition increases from 181.58 ± 9.73 to 277.40 ± 15.41 kJ mol-1, confirming a significant enhancement in thermal stability. DFT calculations and molecular dynamics simulations together demonstrate that ethanol enhances the interaction between hydrazine hydrate and the nitrate ester groups of NC, thereby significantly promoting the denitration reaction. Overall, this work provides a safe and effective approach for transforming waste NC into thermally stable polymeric materials, offering new insights into the controlled modification and resource recovery of nitrate-ester-functionalized polymers.

Graphical abstract