Synthesis of nanorods assembled V-doped WO3 microspheres and the catalytic performance in thermal decomposition of ammonium perchlorate

V-doped WO3 microspheres composed of nanorods radially grown from the center were fabricated via a simple hydrothermal method. The as-obtained products were characterized by several techniques such as X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), energy dispersive spectrometer (EDS), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), Raman spectrum, and Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET). It was found that V atoms were incorporated inside the hexagonal WO3 lattice. On the basis of time-dependent experiments, the formation mechanism for the as-prepared V-doped WO3 micro-nanostructures was discussed. In addition, the catalytic properties of the synthesized material on the thermal decomposition of ammonium perchlorate (AP) were evaluated by thermal gravimetric and differential thermal analysis (TG/DTA), which showed the thermal decomposition temperatures of AP in the presence of 1, 2, and 4 wt% of V-doped WO3 micro-nanostructures were reduced to 399, 393, and 380 degrees C, respectively.