prometheus1970 - 9-8-2010 at 17:27
I recently tried my hand at making NC. I mixed 200ml 98%H2SO4 with 120 grams KNO3 and slowly added about 20 or so cotton balls until they all had
soaked up the acid mix. I let them sit for about 45 minutes. I pulled them out of the acid mix and quenched them in water stirring them vigorusly.
I then added them to about 500 ml water with about 30 grams bicarbonate dissolved in it. I kept adding bicarb until most of the fizzing had died
down. I rinsed them a bit more in clean water. I laid them out on top of my grill with wire mesh weighing them down while they dried. I touched a
lit cigarette to one of them, but rather than disappearing in a poof, leaving nothing behind, it just burned very quickly and vigorously leaving large
turds of carbon behind and smelling of NO2. Will I not be able to get the completely burning, detonable nitrocellulose without using bonafide HNO3?
or is what I described actually detonable with the proper initiation? (detonation is my goal with the nc)
[Edited on 8-10-2010 by prometheus1970]
Joauml - 10-8-2010 at 03:32
If you're going to use the KNO3 method, then let the cotton in the acids for longer. At least 2 hours
Contrabasso - 10-8-2010 at 10:22
Nitrations tend to need agitation too. You have to stir the cotton into the puddle of nitrating mix often, it's so viscous that exhausted chems don't
run away from the reaction site being replaced by fresh chems.