Two-dimensional nanoscale MoS2 for thermal catalysis of dihydroxylammonium-5,5′-bistetrazole-1,1′-diolate (TKX-50)

In the article, we reported two-dimensional nanoscale MoS2 has been demonstrated to possess intrinsic catalytic activity for thermal decomposition of dihydroxylammonium-5,5′-bistetrazole-1,1′-diolate (TKX-50). The morphology and structure of MoS2 nanosheets prepared by liquid ultrasonic exfoliation were characterized by scanning electron microscopy, powder X-ray diffraction, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and Raman spectra. Thermal catalysis decomposition was investigated by thermogravimetric/differential scanning calorimetry. MoS2 was added to TKX-50, and the results show that nano-MoS2 can decrease the activation energy of TKX-50 decomposition from 220.0 to 140.6 kJ mol−1 effectively and that the decomposition temperature was decreased by 32.1 °C more than 23.8 °C for commercial bulk MoS2. In addition, a possible mechanism of MoS2 towards the catalysis thermal decomposition of TKX-50 was proposed. The conduction-band electrons (ecb−) and valence-band holes (h+) excited on the surface of MoS2 under thermal excitation promoted H+ transfer from H atom of NH3OH+ to O atom of bisteterazole and boosted the decomposition of TKX-50 further. This work may offer a new idea to introduce transition metal dichalcogenide into thermal catalysis fields.