Cellulose Nitrates from Unconventional Feedstocks

Abstract

Samples of technical-grade cellulose isolated by nitric acid technique from unconventional feedstocks (oat hulls, Miscanthus, and intermediate flax straw) have been treated for the first time with a sulfuric acid–nitric acid mixture to give cellulose nitrates with a nitrogen content of 12.04–12.26%, viscosity 10–14 mPa s, and a solubility in an alcohol–ether mixture of at least 98%, which corresponds to industrial lacquer-purpose high-viscosity colloxylin and N-grade colloxylin. It has been confirmed by IR spectroscopy and differential scanning colorimetry that the cellulose nitrates from unconventional feedstocks correspond to industrial colloxylins in terms of the key absorption bands (1650–1635, 1279–1276, 831–825, 746, 687–672 cm^–1), thermal degradation onset temperature (about 200°C), and specific heat of decomposition (6.28–7.54 kJ/g).