Application of supercritical carbon dioxide in the field of safety analysis of explosive materials

Supercrit. fluid extn. (SFE) with CO2 was used for safety evaluations of different propellant formulations based on nitrocellulose, ammonium perchlorate, or RDX. The SFE-technique for sample prepn. from these mixts. of explosives with polymers and plasticizers was compared to conventional Soxhlet extns. SFE was a rapid and environmentally friendly method to study the shelf life and migration phenomenons of additives in solid propellants. The SFE-method took very short extn. times, needed no application of hazardous chlorinated solvents, and the exts. could be analyzed chromatog. without further work-up.