Investigation on Hygroscopicity of Low Sensitive Gun Propellant Based on Ladder‐Structured Nitrocellulose

ABSTRACT Hygroscopicity plays a crucial role in the application of gun propellant. However, hygroscopicity of low sensitive gun propellant based on ladder‐structured nitrocellulose (LNC propellants) was not clear yet. In this work, moisture absorption behavior and hygroscopic mechanism of LNC propellants were studied by dynamic vapor sorption (DVS) instrument and molecular dynamics (MD) simulation. The DVS result shows that the capacity of moisture absorption for LNC propellants is obviously decreased by 60.60% (from 0.99% to 0.39% at RH of 50%) compared with propellants based on conventional nitrocellulose (NC), showing that moisture absorption behavior of low sensitive gun propellants can be inhibited well after the introduction of LNC. The Peleg absorption model provides a more accurate representation of the hygroscopic properties of LNC propellant, which can effectively predict the variation of moisture content throughout the moisture absorption process. Moreover, MD simulation results show that LNC has a weaker interaction with H 2 O molecule due to the grafting reaction of lots of hydroxyl group compared with NC, leading to lower hygroscopicity of LNC propellants. These results are expected to boost the practical application of low sensitive gun propellants containing LNC into the artillery.