Chemical Stability of Nitrate Esters

Stability is usually called as chemical stability, which is referred to as either the stability of a chemical, or the stability of the product which is obtained by stability 

Stability of nitrate esters is a factor to decide if they can be long-term stored [44]. Because of their structure, they could be decomposed by hydrolysis and spontaneously burned to cause explosion. The higher the purity of esters is, the lower the risk of decomposition is. The stability depends on the chemical structure of nitrate esters. For example, the stability for most pure nitrate esters, such as methylene glycol dinitrate, nitroglycerine, glycol dinitrate, 1,3-propanediol dinitrate, pentae-rythritol tetranitrate, and cellulose nitrate, is acceptably high. 

Thermal decomposition of nitrate esters is very important in application [44]. It is related to long-term storage of weapons and industrial products, and safety and security in operation in military. 

The relationship between the decomposition rate and temperature can be expressed as the following equation. 

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