Preparation of Nano-Cu-Fe Composite Metal Oxides via a Mechanical Grinding Method and Its Catalytic Performance for the Thermal Decomposition of Ammonium Perchlorate

In this article, a series of nano-Cu-Fe composite metal oxides (nano CuO/Fe2O3), with different molar ratios of CuO/Fe2O3 (1:2, 1:1, 1:0.5, 1:0.25), were prepared in large-scale by mechanical grinding. The microstructures, surface elements and morphologies of samples are analyzed by X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray energy dispersive spectrometry (EDS), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The catalytic effects of nano-Cu-Fe composite metal oxides on the thermal decomposition of ammonium perchlorate (AP) were investigated by thermogravimetric (TG) analysis and differential scanning calorimetric (DSC) techniques. The results show that nano-Cu-Fe composite metal oxides with the molar ratio of CuO/Fe2O3 = 1:2 have the best catalytic effect for AP thermal decomposition as compared to the other nano-Cu-Fe composite metal oxides, the single nano CuO, and nano Fe2O3. Also, the results show that the decomposition temperature of AP has fallen from 441.3°C to 355.3°C, whereas the decomposition heat has risen from 941 to 1749 J/g, which supports the existence of a synergistic effect between CuO and Fe2O3 nanoparticles.