Microwave-assisted synthesis of graphitic carbon nitride/CuO nanocomposites and the enhancement of catalytic activities in the thermal decomposition of ammonium perchlorate

The microwave-assisted-graphitic carbon nitride/CuO (m-g-C3N4/CuO) nanocomposite was synthesized through microwave pretreatment and mixing-calcination. Compared with pure graphitic carbon nitride (g-C3N4), microwave-assisted-graphitic carbon nitride (m-g-C3N4), CuO and g-C3N4/CuO, the m-g-C3N4/CuO nanocomposites could more effectively promote the thermal decomposition of ammonium perchlorate (AP). It was found that upon the addition of m-g-C3N4/CuO nanoparticles, the HTD temperature of AP was reduced by 136 degrees C, which was much higher than that upon the addition of other nanocomposites. The overall heat releases were 310.5, 503.6, 688.7, 1054.5, 1726.2 and 2116.3 J.g(-1) for pure AP and AP with the addition of g-C3N4, m-g-C3N4, CuO, g-C3N4/CuO and m-g-C3N4/CuO, respectively. The amount of released heat from the decomposition of AP mixed with m-g-C3N4/CuO was seven times higher than that from pure AP. Based on the above results, a catalytic mechanism was proposed to explain the role of m-g-C3N4/CuO in the thermal decomposition of AP. Using m-g-C3N4/CuO as catalyst for the decomposition of AP, the enhancement of catalytic effect was presumably due to the microwave synthesis and the synergistic effect between m-g-C3N4 and CuO. Therefore, it could be found that m-g-C3N4/CuO composite had a broad application prospects in the field of AP-based solid propellant.