Preparation of Nanoporous CoFe2O4 and Its Catalytic Performance during the Thermal Decomposition of Ammonium Perchlorate

Three-dimensional, nanoporous CoFe2O4 catalysts were synthesized, employing a colloidal crystal template method. X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and N-2 adsorption-desorption were subsequently used to characterize the crystal structures and morphologies of the samples. The catalytic activities of nanoporous CoFe2O4 and CoFe2O4 nanospheres during the thermal decomposition of ammonium perchlorate (AP) were also investigated by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). The results show that the spine] framework of these materials has an ordered open network of pores averaging 200 nm in diameter. The specific surface area of the nanoporous CoFe2O4 was 55.646 m(2).g(-1), a value that was higher than that of the nanosphere material. DSC analysis indicates that the catalytic activity of the nanoporous CoFe2O4 is superior to that of the spherical material during the thermal decomposition of AP, and that the nanoporous catalyst makes the peak temperature of high temperature decomposition decrease by 91.46 degrees C. The heat release from the AP in the presence of nanoporous CoFe2O4 (1120.88 J.g(-1)) is 2.3 times that obtained from pure AP. Both the higher specific surface area and greater quantity of active reduction sites on the nanoporous CoFe2O4 relative to the nanosphere material act to reduce the activation energy during the AP decomposition process. Based on the results of this work, a possible catalytic mechanism for the thermal decomposition of AP over nanoporous CoFe2O4 is proposed, in which gaseous intermediates play an important role.