Comparison of six ester components in nitrocellulose lacquer thinner from the aspects of dissolution rates, explosion characteristics and environmental influence

Abstract Methyl Acetate (MA), Ethyl Acetate (EA), n-Propyl Acetate (PA), n-Butyl Acetate (BA), Ethyl Propionate (EP) and Ethyl Butyrate (EB) are common ester components for Nitrocellulose (NC) lacquer thinner. They exhibit good solubility for NC lacquer, but they are flammable and explosive and could also bring negative effect on environment. In this paper, their dissolution rates, lower explosive limits (LELs) and the half maximal inhibitory concentrations (IC50) (on Dunaliella bardawil) were studied. Their dissolution rates for NC lacquer are about 39.64, 32.81, 23.56, 19.76, 26.50 and 19.36 mg/min, respectively. Their LELs are about 3.145%, 2.060%, 1.845%, 1.540%, 1.740% and 1.425%, respectively. And their IC50 are about 20.47, 11.35, 3.18, 1.00, 3.37 and 1.98 g/L, respectively. Considering from the three aspects, MA is a better ester component for NC lacquer thinner than other five esters, while BA and EB are relative worse components for NC lacquer thinner.