Efficient promotion of Calliandra haematocephala flower-like MXene/ZnCo2O4 nanocomposites on thermal decomposition of ammonium perchlorate

Abstract

A series kind of methods were used to load ZnCo2O4 nanoparticles on MXene nanosheets for preparing MXene-based ZnCo2O4 (MXene/ZnCo2O4) nanocomposites. The characterization results indicated that the MXene/ZnCo2O4 nanocomposites (MZC-W) with a Calliandra haematocephala flower-like structure could be prepared by a two-step hydrothermal method and MZC-W with large specific surface area exhibited significant catalytic activity to the decomposition of ammonium perchlorate (AP). The decomposition performance of AP on MZC-W (2.0 wt%) showed that the high decomposition temperature of AP was highly reduced by 138.3 °C. For the heat of AP decomposition, it significantly increased to 1474.5 J g−1. During this process, the Ea of AP decomposition was reduced by 56.4%, while the reaction rate of AP decomposition was increased by 11.2 times. The remarkable catalytic activity of MZC-W was attributed to its high specific surface area and the synergistic effect between ZnCo2O4 nanoparticles and MXene nanosheets. Predictably, MZC-W with potential application value could be used as a catalyst to ameliorate the decomposition of AP, while the synthesis method of MZC-W could be used as a simple idea to improve the catalytic activity of metal oxide nanoparticles.