Tuning the thermal decomposition of ammonium perchlorate by nanoporous Gd2O3 for improved safety and enhanced propellant efficiency

Abstract Nanoporous Gd2O3 powders (NGPs) with different specific surface areas were prepared by a non-aqueous sol-gel method and utilized to tune the exothermal decomposition of ammonium perchlorate(AP) for the enhanced propellant efficiency and improved safety. It was found that with the increasing of the NGPs dosage added into AP, the two exothermal peaks of AP merged into one intense exothermal peak, indicating an “energy stacking” has been achieved. Meanwhile, the unique delay of the first exothermal peak of AP is conducive to ensure the safety of AP in application process. Furthermore, the dependence of decomposition heat of AP on dosage and calcination temperature is more evident than on the surface areas of NGPs, suggesting that the promotion effect of NGPs on the thermal decomposition of AP does not only rely on the surface interaction. Therefore, an electron transfer mechanism is proposed to illustrate the decomposition process of AP tuned by NGPs.