Glycerol-controlled synthesis of a series of cobalt acid composites and their catalytic decomposition toward several energetic materials

Abstract

One of the challenges in solid propellant formulation is the ability to extend the combustion performance by efficiently catalyzing the decomposition of energetic additives. Herein, a series of cobalt acid composites nano-MCo₂O₄ (M = Cu, Ni, Zn, Mg, Fe, Ba) with homogeneous morphology and small particle size were systematically prepared by a solvothermal method. The crystal structure, surface morphology and catalytic performance of MCo₂O₄ were adjusted by the special co-solvent isopropanol and glycerol, exhibiting a regular and uniform spherical structure with an average diameter of 900 nm. The surface of MCo₂O₄ before calcination is wrapped with a layer of a fold-like substance, which is related to the addition of glycerol. XRD results show that BaCo₂O₄ was firstly prepared by this method in this study. Finally, the catalytic decomposition performance of MCo₂O₄ composites toward ammonium perchlorate (AP) and cyclotrimethylenetrinitramine (RDX) was investigated and compared via the DSC method. BaCo₂O₄ and CuCo₂O₄ exhibit the best catalytic activity toward AP and RDX, respectively, which is mainly due to their higher crystallinity and the better catalytic activity of copper ions. The simple and high-yield pathway for obtaining nano-MCo₂O₄ in this work provides a new insight to design and develop a kind of high-performance combustion catalyst for solid propellants.