Copper loaded carbon aerogel from chitosan-precursor promotes thermal decomposition of ammonium perchlorate for solid propellants

Chitosan (CS) was used as a carrier, in which copper particles were loaded, and CS-Cu carbon aerogel was obtained by freeze-drying and high-temperature carbonization, which was characterized by scanning electron microscopy test, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy test, X-ray diffraction test, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and gas adsorption method. Results show that CS-Cu carbon aerogel is a 3D porous material, and its 3D porous structure provides more active sites for the copper nanoparticles, effectively preventing the agglomeration phenomenon caused by the large surface energy of copper nanoparticles. The CS-Cu carbon aerogel was introduced into the solid propellant system, and the catalytic performance of the CS-Cu carbon aerogel on ammonium perchlorate (AP) was investigated by differential thermal analysis. The results show that the CS-Cu carbon aerogel has good catalytic performance, the high temperature decomposition peak of AP is reduced by 92.4 K and the activation energy is reduced from 215.9 ± 1.3 kJ/mol to 173.7 ± 1.5 kJ/mol for pure AP.