Thermocatalytic activity of CuCo2O4 nanoparticles prepared by sol-gel method

Complex oxides with spinel structure are of intense interests in material research because of their remarkable optical, electrical, magnetic, catalytic properties. Ammonium perchlorate (AP) is the main composition in many propellants. The activation energy, reaction rate and pyrolysis temperature of the thermal decomposition of AP are related to the properties of solid propellants, especially the combustion rate [1], [2]. In this research, CuCo2O4 nanoparticles have been successfully prepared via a simple and facile sol–gel method. Scanning electron microscope (SEM) and transmission electron microscope (TEM) images reveals that the product consisting of spherical nanocrystals of about 25-40nm diameter. X-ray diffraction (XRD) results showed that nanoparticles were in face-centered cubic crystal phase. Chemical composition of the prepared nanoparticles is evaluated by fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. Thermal formation of CuCo2O4 nanoparticles and its thermocatalytic activity towards thermal decomposition of ammonium perchlorate (AP) were investigated using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) technique and results showed that the thermal decomposition temperature of AP shift downward about 103 °C, (Figure 1). Two mechanisms based on proton and electron transfer processes have also been proposed for AP decomposition in the presence of nanosized CuCo2O4.