Graphene Oxide/Fe₂O₃ Nanocomposite as an Efficient Catalyst for Thermal Decomposition of Ammonium Perchlorate via the...

The combination of graphene oxide (GO) and iron oxide (Fe₂O₃) may induce property enforcement and application extension. Herein, GO/Fe₂O₃ nanocomposites were synthesized via the vacuum-freeze-drying method and used for the thermal decomposition of ammonium perchlorate (AP). A series of characterization techniques were applied to elucidate the as-obtained nanomaterial's physicochemical properties. These results show that the treated GO is consistent with the pristine GO after the freeze-drying treatment. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) analyses show that iron oxide nanoparticles are anchored on and between the GO sheets. The catalytical effect investigation on AP with different Fe₂O₃: GO ratios indicates that the high-temperature decomposition temperature of AP could be decreased by a temperature as high as 77 °C compared to pure AP accompanied by 3 wt % GO/Fe₂O₃ nanocomposite which proves the high catalytic performance of the nanocomposites. The first-principles calculation was employed to elaborate the synergistic effect, and the findings demonstrate that the presence of graphene in the catalyst can enhance the catalytic effect via reducing the activation energy barrier by ∼17% in the reaction of AP thermal decomposition.