Preparation and properties of different azide polymer-modified nitrocellulose spherical powder

Azide polymers are currently a major research hotspot in the field of energetic materials, with the advantages of high energy, low sensitivity and good thermal stability. A series of new azide polymer-modified nitrocellulose (NC) spherical powder were prepared by the internal solution method with introducing different azide polymers (GAP, GAPA, GAPE, and GAP-ETPE) into NC. The effect of different azide polymers on the performance of NC spherical powder was investigated. The addition of azide polymers led to a decrease in the average particle size of the spherical powder. The addition of azide polymer substantially reduced the mechanical sensitivities of NC spherical powder and improved their thermal stability. The critical temperature of thermal explosion (T _b) and self-accelerated decomposition temperature (T _SADT) of the modified spherical powder were 5~10 °C higher than those of the NC spherical powder. Meanwhile, the mechanical sensitivities of the azide polymer-modified spherical powder were significantly reduced, in which the impact sensitivity was reduced by about 30.3%~65.3%, and the friction sensitivity was reduced by about 23.3%~41.1%. Therefore, the azide polymer-modified spherical powder have more excellent thermal stability and safety performance, and probably have a broader application prospect.