Guncotton Nitrocellulose

Guncotton. Nitrocellulose containing more than 12- 6% of nitrogen. 

Guncotton (Nitrocellulose). Nitrocellulose of high nitration (13.35 to 13.4% nitrogen. Used as an ingredient of smokeless propellants (Ref 40a, p 86 and Ref 44, p C103-L... 

Guncotton. Nitrocellulose of high nitrogen content (13-35 to 13.45%). It is described in Vol 2 of Encyd, under CELLULOSE NITRATE, p C106-R to C108-R... 

Uses In gelatinized form as propellant for small arms, and in the fiber form as high explosive in contact mines. See Guncotton, Nitrocellulose. 

Others calcium carbonate and sodium chloride for flame suppression, and paraffin and guncotton (nitrocellulose) for water resistance and gelling. 

One hundred years after de Reaumur speculated about the production of artificial silk, the first practical solution capable of being spun was invented by a Swiss chemist named Schoenbein. In 1846, he invented guncotton (nitrocellulose) which, when dissolved in alcohol and ether, produced collodion, a thick, viscous solution. Another Swiss chemist, George Audemars, took out the first known patent [111] that was granted in 1855 for production of rayon in England. 

CAS 9004-70-0 EINECS/ELINCS 239-069-9 UN 2059 (DOT) UN 2555 (DOT) UN 2556 (DOT) UN 2557 (DOT) Synonyms Celloidin Celluloid Cellulose nitrate Cellulose tetranitrate Collodion Collodion cotton Collodion wool Colloxylin Flexible collodion Guncotton Nitrocellulose, dry Nitrocellulose sol n. Nitrocellulose, wetted Nitrocotton Nitron Fyor lin Pyroxylin plastic Pyroxylin rods Soluble guncotton Xyloidin Classification Cellulose deriv. 

Nitrocellulose is usually handled wet and containing approximately 30% of water. Under these conditions it can be considered as a nonexplosive material when the nitrogen content does not exceed 12-6%. More highly nitrated cellulose is known as guncotton and is explosive even when moderately wet. When dry, nitrocellulose of all types is an extremely sensitive and dangerous explosive. Dry nitrocellulose is required for use in certain types of explosives and is then prepared by slow drying of the wet material in a current of warm air. 

For nitrocellulose, including guncotton, the most suitable stability test is the B and J (Bergmann and Junk) test in which 2 g dried material is heated for 2 h at 132°C, the gases evolved being dissolved in water. The nitric acid in this water is reduced to nitric oxide, which is measured by volume. 

High Grade Nitrocellulose. Same as Guncotton described under Cellulose and Derivatives in Vol 2, p C106-R... 

When a major portion of Guncotton was dispersed with acetone-alcohol and the residual portion with one of the above compds, equal weights of the compds were superior to dibutyl phthalate and to triacetin first, with respect to time reqd for complete dispersion and secondly, in producing solns of low viscosity Ref A.J. Philips, The Relation of the Hydrogen Bonding Concept to the Gelatinization of Nitrocellulose, PATR 1249 (March 1943)... 

Cotone fulminante. (Guncotton, abbrd as GC). See Fulmicotone under Nitrocellulose... 

Menkayaku (Guncotton). Comp with Shokamen (Nitrocellulose)... 

Fulmicoton. Accdg to Patterson s Frenchr English Dictionary it is Guncotton, while Fulmicoton soluble is Pyroxylins. Guncotton has N content 13.47% and its formula corresponds to Endeca nitrocellulose,... 

Around the same time, nitration of cellulose to produce nitrocellulose (NC also known as guncotton) was undertaken by different groups and finally the invention of NC was reported by Schonbein (Basel) and Bottger (Frankfurt) independently in 1846. Further, dynamite was invented by Alfred B. Nobel in 1866. 

Soon after the manufacture of nitrocellulose smokeless powder began it was established that the powder obtained by the partial dissolution of nitrocellulose in a mixture of alcohol and ether (partly colloidal powder) has a chemical stability inferior to that of the nitrocellulose from which it derived. Thus Vieille [11] reports that on heating to a temperature of 110°C CPj guncotton undergoes denitration with the evolution of 0.04 cm3 NO/hr/gramme whereas the powder obtained from these substances without a stabilizer undergoes denitration at more than twice the rate, namely 0.10-0.15 cm3 NO/hr/gramme of substance. 

Another method for dehydrating nitrocellulose is based on the use of pneumatic or hydraulic presses. Dehydration in pneumatic presses (diffusers) (Fig. 200) consists of filling the cylinder of the press with wet guncotton squeezed out of the tank under... 

The operation proceeds as follows a brass mesh and a linen disk are put on the bottom of a cylinder at position 1, and then 20 kg (dry substance) of wet nitrocellulose is poured in from above. Commonly used types of nitrocellulose (guncotton with collodion cotton) are packed alternately in layers, which in fact... 

After analysis each form of nitrocellulose (guncotton, collodion cotton, pyror collodion cotton) is batched separately into a linen bag which for convenience and safety is stored in an air-tight iron vessel (to protect the nitrocellulose from drying up and becoming dusty). Nitrocellulose is batched by charges, the size of which depends on the dimensions and the type of apparatus used. In France, for instance, a total charge of nitrocellulose (CPt and CP2) is 20 kg when dehydrated in a hydraulic press or 30 kg when dehydrated in a centrifuge. 

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. 

The batching of nitrocellulose consists of weighing the guncotton and collodion cotton in a ratio which gives a mixture of suitable nitrogen content with the required total solubility. 

Solventless powder is usually tubular. It was first produced at the Diineberg factory, in 1912, under the name of RPC/12 (Rohrenpulver mit Centralit 1912). Initially the manufacture of this powder was based upon the use of easily soluble nitrocellulose (11 % N), plus guncotton to bring the total nitrogen content up to 11.7%. About 25% nitroglycerine was used plus a large quantity of centralite (4-5%) as a non-volatile solvent. 

At the same time as nitroglycerine was being prepared, the nitration of cellulose to produce nitrocellulose (also known as guncotton) was also being undertaken by different workers, notably Schonbein at Basel and Bottger at Frankfurt-am-Main during 1845-47. Earlier in 1833, Braconnot had nitrated starch, and in 1838, Pelouze, continuing the experiments of Braconnot, also nitrated paper, cotton and various other materials but did not realize that he had prepared nitrocellulose. With the announcement by Schonbein in 1846, and in the same year by... 

---