Effect of aluminum morphology on thermal decomposition of ammonium perchlorate

In this paper, two kinds of flake aluminum powder are prepared by bidirectional rotation mill using the spherical aluminum powder (Al-1) as raw materials. The morphology and particle size distribution of Al powder are analyzed using scanning electron microscopy and laser particle size analyzer. At the same time, the catalytic performances of the Al-1 and as-prepared Al powder on the thermal decomposition of ammonium perchlorate (AP) are studied through thermogravimetric and differential scanning calorimetry analysis. The results revealed that compared with pure AP, the exothermic peak temperature of AP/Al-1, AP/thicker flake Al powder (Al-2) and AP/thinner flake Al powder (Al-3) mixtures are reduced. The activation energy of AP/Al-1, AP/Al-2 and AP/Al-3 mixtures is reduced by 3.7, 16.8 and 17.6%, respectively. The reaction rate constant of AP/Al-1, AP/Al-2 and AP/Al-3 mixtures grows by 3.3, 18.0 and 32.5%, respectively.