Accelerated Decomposition Kinetics of Ammonium Perchlorate via Conformal Graphene Coating

Ammonium perchlorate (AP) is an oxidizer material that is widely employed in applications ranging from rocketry to airbags. Previous research has suggested that efficient electron transfer plays a critical role in determining the kinetics of catalyzed AP decomposition reactions. Consequently, intimate contact between AP crystals and electron acceptors has the potential to accelerate decomposition kinetics, which motivates the development of conformal coatings with suitably tailored electronic structures. Here, we demonstrate a scalable method for conformally coating AP crystals with two atomically well-defined 2D materials with orthogonal electronic properties-namely, pristine graphene, which is a zero-band gap semiconductor that has been shown to be an effective electron acceptor in diverse heterojunctions and hexagonal boron nitride (hBN), which is a wide-band gap electrical insulator. Consistent with an electron transfer mechanism, graphene-coated AP undergoes accelerated decomposition kinetics compared to uncoated (neat) or hBN-coated AP. Through extensive structural characterization including electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction, the effects of AP crystal size and crystallinity are examined. In addition, the accelerated decomposition kinetics of graphene-coated AP are quantified through thermogravimetric analysis, gas chromatography mass spectrometry, and kinetic modeling. Overall, this work establishes pristine graphene as an effective coating for promoting accelerated decomposition of AP, which enhances its utility in various applications.

Automated summary

Previous research has shown that graphene-coated ammonium perchlorate (AP) accelerates its decomposition kinetics, while hBN coating does not have a similar effect. Structural characterization including electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction were used to analyze the effects of AP crystal size and crystallinity. The accelerated decomposition kinetics of graphene-coated AP were quantified through thermogravimetric analysis, gas chromatography mass spectrometry, and kinetic modeling.