Abstract
Nanothermites have attracted much attention owing to their excellent sensitivity and catalytic activity. In this paper, Fe2O3 is used to achieve Al/Fe2O3 nanothermite by mixing nano-Al with Fe2O3 nanopowder. X-ray diffraction, field emission gun scanning electron microscopy, energy dispersive X-ray spectra, and transmission electron microscopy were employed to study the structural features of the nanothermite. Its catalytic activity was investigated on the thermal decomposition of ammonium perchlorate (AP) and composite solid propellants (CSPs) using thermogravimetric analysis (TG), TG coupled with differential scanning calorimetry, and ignition delay measurements. Kinetics of thermal decomposition of AP with and without Al/Fe2O3 has also been investigated using model fitting and isoconversional methods which have been applied to data for isothermal TG decomposition. Activation energy values have been found to be lowered in case of AP + Al/Fe2O3. The results revealed enhancement in the rate of decomposition of AP and CSPs.
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