In-situ preparation of MgFe2O4-GO nanocomposite and its enhanced catalytic reactivity on decomposition of AP and RDX

Abstract MgFe 2 O 4 -GO nanocomposite was successfully prepared by in situ growth method and characterized by XRD, FT-IR, Raman, SEM and TEM. MgFe 2 O 4 nanoparticles were tightly anchored on the surfaces of GO sheets, and no separation of MgFe 2 O 4 from GO sheets was found after ultrasound treatment for 10 min. GO sheets effectively prevent the aggregation of MgFe 2 O 4 nanoparticles, and the particle size of MgFe 2 O 4 is about 80 nm. Catalytic decomposition results show that the MgFe 2 O 4 -GO nanocomposite could obviously reduce the decomposition temperature and apparent activation energy of AP from 406.8 to 306.5 °C and from 161.0 to 116.6 kJ mol −1 ，respectively, and increase the decomposition heat of AP from 654.7 to 1183.2 J g −1 . The thermal decomposition temperature of RDX was also reduced from 242.3 to 234.6 °C. MgFe 2 O 4 -GO nanocomposite prepared by in situ growth method exhibits better catalytic decomposition performances than pure MgFe 2 O 4 , physical mixture MgFe 2 O 4 + GO and self-assembled MgFe 2 O 4 /GO.