Synthesis and thermal behavior of Cu2O flower-like, Cu2O-C-60 and Al/Cu2O-C-60 as catalysts on the thermal decomposition of ammonium perchlorate

Microparticles Cu2O flower-like, new Cu2O-C-60 composite and energetic composite Al/Cu2O-C-60 were successfully synthesized. The morphology, structure, and chemical composition of these additives were observed by using SEM, XRD, EDS and FTIR analysis. Non-isothermal DSC/TGA measurements were performed to study the thermal behavior of these additives at different heating rates. From the comparison of DSC and TGA plots, it has been clearly noticed the catalytic effect of Cu2O and Cu2O-C-60 where, the LTD of AP was decreased from 331 degrees C to 315 degrees C, 310 degrees C and 303 degrees C (in presence of Cu2O, Cu2O-C-60 and Al/Cu2O-C-60 respectively) and the HTD was dropped from 430 degrees C (pure AP) to 384 degrees C, 375 degrees C and 350 degrees C (for the compounds AP/Cu2O, AP/Cu2O-C-60 and AP/Al/Cu2O-C-60 respectively). The kinetics of the different samples were studied by isoconversional models, Friedman, OFW, and KAS methods, and then compared to those obtained by an iterative procedure using MATLAB R2016a as platform of computations. The pure AP kinetic results indicated that the decomposition process is complex and involves different stages with different reaction mechanisms. The additives incorporated in the AP have influenced its decomposition process by modifying the reaction mechanisms and the number of involved stages.