Graphene oxide based nickel–copper–zinc and copper–zinc cobaltite: catalysts for the thermolysis of ammonium perchlorate and nitrotriazolone

Abstract

The mixed transition metal cobaltites copper–zinc cobaltite (CuZnCo₂O₄) and nickel–copper–zinc cobaltite (NiCuZnCo₂O₄) were synthesized using the co-precipitation method. The diffraction, electronic, polarization, and vibrational properties of the prepared NiCuZnCo₂O₄ and CuZnCo₂O₄ were recorded using X-ray diffraction (XRD), UV-visible spectrophotometry (UV-Vis), Raman scattering, and infrared spectrophotometry, respectively. Graphene oxide (GO) based cobaltites were prepared by mechanical grinding using NiCuZnCo₂O₄ and CuZnCo₂O₄ to produce NiCuZnCo₂O₄ + GO and CuZnCo₂O₄ + GO, respectively. Catalytic activities of four compositions for the thermal decomposition of ammonium perchlorate (AP) and nitrotriazolone (NTO) were analyzed using thermal techniques such as differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), differential thermal analysis (DTA), and thermogravimetry (TG). The effect of spinels NiCuZnCo₂O₄ and CuZnCo₂O₄ and their mixtures with GO showed that their addition decreases exothermic peak temperatures of AP and NTO by ∼50 °C to 150 °C compared to that with pure AP and NTO. The simple synthesis method of these catalysts helps laboratory-scale to industrial-scale production for the preparation of different chemical propulsion systems.