Catalytic properties of 3D flower-likeMgCo2O4/MXene composites for the thermal decomposition of ammonium perchlorate by one-pot synthesis

Abstract

The catalytic active sites of the materials have a major role in the catalytic activity of nanocatalytic materials for the heat thermal decomposition of ammonium perchlorate. By adopting one-pot strategy to load MgCo2O4 onto MXene nanosheets, we were able to create highly dispersed MgCo2O4/MXene composites that improved the dispersion of the nanoparticles and increased the catalytic active sites. The MgCo2O4/MXene catalytic active sites were clearly optimized (Specific surface area increased from 115.4 of MgCo2O4 to 168.8 m2·g−1), according to the BET results. The performance tests demonstrated that the MgCo2O4/MXene composite effectively decreased the thermal decomposition temperature of AP, and the MgCo2O4/MXene composite significantly reduced the peak decomposition temperature of AP by 208.3 °C (from 471.2 °C of pure AP to 262.9 °C). The decomposition heat of AP increased from 782 J·g−1 of pure AP to 1453 J·g−1. In addition, the apparent activation energy of AP dropped from 296.19 kJ·mol−1 to 119.48 kJ·mol−1. Application of MgCo2O4/MXene composite to AP/HTPB-based composite solid propellants (CSPs) for combustion experiments resulted in an appreciable reduction in ignition delay time of ∼ 45 ms (from ∼ 51 ms to ∼ 6 ms). The highly dispersed MgCo2O4/MXene composite was a positive catalyst for AP-based composite solid propellant.