The integration of civilian nitrocellulose in propellant with highly improved mechanical property and thermal stability, and study on its combustion behavior.

• CNC with similar molecular structure and composition to NC can be used in propellant. • Civilian nitrocellulose can further plasticize high-nitrogen nitrocellulose. • The thermal stability of CNC based-propellant was enhanced and presented stable combustion behavior. Developing binders for propellants with balanced mechanical and energy properties is important and challenging. Herein, high-viscosity civilian nitrocotton (CNC) was used as reinforcing binder to prepare CNC-based propellant by solvent method. The influence of viscosity and content of CNC on mechanical properties, thermal stability, and combustion performance of propellants was investigated. The plasticizing process of nitrocellulose fibers can be well described by swelling mass changes and has a strong correlation with mechanical properties. The impact test combined with morphology observation by scanning electron microscope (SEM) and evaluation about matrix, fiber, and structure systems revealed that the subsidiary plasticizing mechanism of CNC and the homogeneous system of CNC-based propellant play the dominant role in enhancement of macroscopic mechanical properties. Besides, the structure of propellant was investigated using FTIR, XRD, and Raman, which indicated that propellant containing CNC exerting similar structure with NC-based propellant. Moreover, the analysis of thermal decomposition kinetics demonstrated that the introduction of CNC could further enhance the thermal stability of propellant, like the increased activation energy. Finally, the study of combustion performance demonstrated that CNC-based propellant can burn steadily, and energy out-put was further enhanced as compared with NC propellant. Therefore, this design and adjustment for the introduction of CNC in propellant could provide fundamental theory and data support for the development of CNC in propellants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]