Alcohol-soluble nitrocellulose

Ester-soluble nitrocellulose Alcohol-soluble nitrocellulose... 

Ester-soluble nitrocelluloses are mainly used in the lacquers described above. Alcohol-soluble nitrocellulose (which is also soluble in esters and ketones) is used for odorless lacquers, particularly for printing inks and sealing waxes. 

Latent solvents, which become effective only in the presence of active or true solvents, include alcohols (e.g., methanol, ethanol, and propanol). Like the nonsolvents these are used to reduce costs. The lower alcohols (e.g., methanol or ethanol) are, of course, true solvents for alcohol-soluble nitrocellulose. 

Insoluble both in alcohol and in ether-alcohol, soluble in acetone and ethyl acetate Guncotton, coton-poudre No. 1, (CPi), nitrocellulose No. 1 (NCO, Schiessbaumwolle S (13.2-13.4% N) 1.659-1.654... 

Soluble in ether-alcohol, acetone, ethyl acetate, insoluble in alcohol, soluble in nitroglycerine Collodion cotton (colloxy-line), coton-poudre No. 2 (CP2), nitrocellulose No. 2 (NC2), Schiessbaumwolle PE (11.3-12.6% N) 1.653... 

Use Solvent for nitrocellulose, cellulose acetate, alcohol-soluble dyes, natural and synthetic resins, solvent mixtures, lacquers, enamels, varnishes, leather perfume fixative wood stains sealing moisture-proof cellophane jet fuel deicing additive. 

OTHER COMMENTS used as a solvent for nitrocellulose, low viscosity cellulose acetate, natural and synthetic resins, some alcohol-soluble dyes, lacquers enamels and varnishes also used in dyeing leather, sealing moisture-proof cellophane, in nail polishes, and in wood stains useful as a jet-fuel deicing additive. 

The nature of Milubility and the strength of solvent General rule concerning nitrocellulose solvents Solubility of nitrocellulose in cihcr-alcohol Solubility in alcohol and in other solven. s Viscosity... 

As a further step to conserve supplies of acetone-based cordite — due to its stability and uniformity of effect, the preferred choice for naval gunnery — the Research Department at the Royal Arsenal at Woolwich devised a new type of cordite for land service. This was known as cordite RDB. In place of highly nitrated insoluble guncotton, soluble nitrocellulose was substituted, and ether-alcohol was used as the solvent. This resulted in scarcity and higher prices for ether-alcohol, produced by the alcohol distilleries. Despite this, and although it was more expensive to manufacture, cordite RDB was accepted for use in May 1915, and put into production as a war emergency measure. ... 

The most important cellulosic is nitrocellulose, ethyl cellulose is next in importance, and cellulose acetate is of some importance. Nitrocellulose is made by nitrating cotton linters it comes in two grades regular soluble types (RS) and spirit- or alcohol-soluble types (SS). Both are available in a variety of viscosities and form a film that is hard, tough, clear, and almost colorless. 

Like the lower alcohols, amyl alcohols are completely miscible with numerous organic solvents and are excellent solvents for nitrocellulose, resia lacquers, higher esters, and various natural and synthetic gums and resius. However, iu contrast to the lower alcohols, they are only slightly soluble iu water. Only 2-methyl-2-butanol exhibits significant water solubiUty. As associated Hquids, amyl alcohols form a2eotropes with water and//or a variety of organic compounds (Table 3). 

Shortly afterwards (1885) Vieille s powder was introduced in France under the name of B powder (Poudre B). Vieille utilized two types of nitrocellulose for its manufacture collodion cotton CP2, soluble in a mixture of ether and alcohol and forming the powder dough cotton CPi, insoluble in a mixture of ether and alcohol, incorporated into the powder mass in the form of unchanged fibres... 

In Russia, Mendeleyev (Ref 12) worked out a method for the manufacture of smokeless powder from pyrocellulose, i.e. relatively high-nitrated (12.5% N) nitrocellulose soluble in a mixture of ether and alcohol. In 1892 the manu-... 

Pentaerythritol tetranitrate (PETN) is a colorless crystalline solid that is very sensitive to initiation by a primary explosive. It is a powerful secondary explosive that has a great shattering effect. It is used in commercial blasting caps, detonation cords, and boosters. PETN is not used in its pure form because it is too sensitive to friction and impact. It is usually mixed with plasticized nitrocellulose or with synthetic rubbers to form PBXs. The most common form of explosive composition containing PETN is Pentolite, a mixture of 20 to 50% PETN and TNT. PETN can be incorporated into gelatinous industrial explosives. The military has in most cases replaced PETN with RDX because RDX is more thermally stable and has a longer shelf life. PETN is insoluble in water, sparingly soluble in alcohol, ether, and benzene, and soluble in acetone and methyl acetate. 

Nitrocellulose powders can be classified into semicolloidal powders made of two kinds of nitrocellulose (insoluble and soluble in the solvent—ether and alcohol), almost fully colloidal, made of pyrocollodion cotton (highly soluble in ether-alcohol) and Schultze type powders with a very low content of colloidal nitrocellulose and containing inorganic salts. The Schultze nitrocellulose powders are now of little significance and very little used, so they will be discussed only briefly. 

In the manufacture of nitrocellulose powders the water is displaced with alcohol. This method was proposed by Lundholm and Sayers [3] and widely used in many countries [4, 5]. Despite the simplicity of the idea the dehydration process is rather complicated. It is influenced by such factors as the solubility of nitrocellulose in alcohol and the ability of nitrocellulose to swell under the influence of alcohol the lower the solubility of nitrocellulose in alcohol, the more easy dehydrated with alcohol. Since, however, the solubility of nitrocellulose depends primarily on its nitrogen content dehydration is easier with the higher nitrated types of nitrocellulose. 

Ponchon also produced a graph (Fig. 205) showing the difference between the dehydration of CPt nitrocellulose (containing 1.5% of soluble in alcohol)... 

Alcohol from dehydration contains a certain quantity of nitrocellulose, i.e. its soluble fractions, mostly degraded, and a certain amount in suspension. Experiments have shown that about 2.2 g of dissolved nitrocellulose and 1.3 g of nitrocellulose in suspension—a total 3.5 g—occur in 11. of 70% alcohol from centrifuges. Sometimes however, the content of nitrocellulose in the alcohol may reach 10-12 g/1. 

Nitrocellulose for the manufacture of powder must meet requirements of chemical stability, nitrogen content and solubility in a mixture of alcohol and ether according to the regulations discussed in the chapter on nitrocellulose. 

The more modem approach to the problem of mixing nitrocellulose consists of mixing defined types of nitrocellulose in the nitrocellulose factory itself. In this case the two forms of nitrocellulose are mixed under water in mixers as described in Vol. II, p. 374. The water is then centrifuged and the mixture dehydrated with alcohol. This method, however, creates certain inconvenience to the powder factory which loses the possibility of changing (within certain limits) the composition of the mixtures, i.e. nitrogen content and total solubility of nitrocellulose. The powder factory is therefore compelled to limit the number of factors which can be varied to obtain the powder of required ballistic properties. 

When treating the nitrocellulose mixture with solvent, only collodion cotton is dissolved and converted into a colloidal state. Guncotton is incorporated into the colloidal mass in the form of fibres. Thus by the solubility of a mixture of nitrocellulo-ses in a mixture of alcohol and ether, we mean the total solubility of the mixture. 

---