The team is currently investigating nitrocellulose as an alternative pyrotechnic mechanism to black powder.

Potential Advantages

Nitrocellulose has a number of advantages over the traditionally used 4F Black Powder. Nitrocellulose's combustion products are all gaseous. The reaction follows the following equation:

 2C6H7N3O11+92O2 \longrightarrow 12CO2+3N2+7H2O

Resources:

The Burning Rate Behavior of Pure Nitrocellulose Propellant Samples from the Army Research Laboratory