Physical-Mechanical Properties of Nitrodopes Affected by Ultra-Violet Radiation

The FTIR spectroscopy has been employed in this research work to monitor the process of nitrodope photodegradation, by measuring surfaces of bands typical of a nitro group. Nitric esters are subject to degradation, which is reflected on a quantitative ratio of the surfaces of the IR bands that originate from the nitric ester. The obtained results show that the length of the UV rays' activity on the samples over the time periods of 240, 480 and 960 minutes directly affects the spectrum appearance of the same sample before and after the irradiation. The longer the action time of the UV rays and the higher a mass percentage of nitrocellulose in the nitrodope is, the smaller the bands' surfaces become, i.e. the level of degradation is higher. In order to confirm the degradation of nitrodope, the degree of crosslinking has also been examined by determining the König hardness and also the mean viscosity molar mass has been defined repeatedly applying the capillary viscosimetry method.