Cobalt copper ferrite: burning rate modifier for composite solid propellants and its catalytic activity on the thermal decomposition of ammonium perchlorate

Nanosize cobalt copper ferrite (CoCuF) was successfully synthesized by the co-precipitation method and used as an additive (1% by weight) to enhance the thermal decomposition of ammonium perchlorate (AP). The optical and spectroscopic properties of the synthesized CoCuF were determined using XRD, atomic force microscopy (AFM), surface area analysis, Raman spectroscopy, and UV-VIS spectroscopy. The thermal decomposition temperature of AP is lowered by 75.8 degrees C in the presence of the additive. DSC kinetics study also imparted that the activation energy was reduced to a great extent AP in the presence of CoCuF as an additive. CoCuF also increased the burning rate of CSPs by 0.78 mm/s at atmospheric pressure. Activation energy calculations using Kissinger-Akahira-Sunose (KAS), Flynn-Wall-Ozawa (FWO), Starink, Friedman, iterative Flynn-Wall-Ozawa (it-FWO), and iterative Kissinger-Akahira-Sunose (it-KAS) confirm the great catalytic activity of CoCuF.