Fabrication of porous MgCo2O4 with rod-like morphology and its superb catalytic activity towards ammonium perchlorate thermal decomposition

In this paper, porous MgCo2O4 with rod-like morphology was successfully synthesized through the thermal treatment of metal oxalates precursor originated by the reaction of metal sulfates and oxalic acid, without the addition of other additives. The porous rod-like MgCo2O4, with a diameter of several hundred nanometers and a length of several micrometers, was formed through the agglomeration of numerous crystalline grains sized in 10–25 nm. Its catalytic effect on ammonium perchlorate (AP) thermal decomposition was evaluated using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) techniques. It was found that the pyrolysis temperature of AP reduced by 129 °C and the heat release increased more than 3.19-fold with a 2 wt% addition of MgCo2O4. Meanwhile, the addition of MgCo2O4 resulted in an AP decomposition activation energy reduction from 216 kJ mol−1 to 155 kJ mol−1, calculated using the Kissinger correlation. This study provides new insights into the design and development of high performance catalysts for AP thermal decomposition.