Dual Influence of Nano Barium Oxide on Thermal Decomposition Reaction Kinetics and Chemical Stability of cellulose nitrate

Abstract

Abstract This study concerns the determination of the dual influence of nanosized barium oxide (BaO) on thermal decomposition reaction kinetics and the chemical stability of nitrocellulose. Synthetized barium oxide (BaO) nanoparticles (NPs) by the precipitation method were combined with nitrocellulose (NC). The phase, composition, morphology, and structure of the prepared barium oxide NPs and NC- based composites were characterized by X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), Fourier Transferred Infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, RAMAN spectroscopy, helium densimetry and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The thermal decomposition reaction kinetics of the NC- based composite were studied by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) associated with different isoconversional kinetic approaches, namely, iterative Kissinger–Akahira–Sunose (It-KAS), iterative Flynn–Wall–Ozawa (It-FWO) and Vyazovkin’s nonlinear integral with compensation effect (VYA/CE) methods. The effect of BaO NPs on the chemical stability of NC was studied using qualitative stability tests (methyl violet and Abel tests) and quantitative stability tests (Bergmann-Junk test (BJ) and Vacuum Stability Test (VST). Also, stability tests based on microcalorimetric measurement (HFC) were carried out. The results of the thermal kinetic investigation demonstrated an enhancement in the thermal stability of nitrocellulose with the addition of nano barium oxide. The results of the stability tests indicate an improvement of the chemical stability of the pristine NC after the addition of BaO NPs.