An Efficient Nanocatalyst Cobalt Copper Zinc Ferrite for the Thermolysis of Ammonium Nitrate

This work reports synthesis and catalytic effect of cobalt copper zinc ferrite (CoCuZnFe₂O₄) on the thermal decomposition of ammonium nitrate (AN). AN is a crystalline hygroscopic powder widely applicable as an oxidizer in the propellant formulations for high energetic materials but requires improvement in its thermal decomposition characteristics. Nanocatalyst spinel ferrite CoCuZnFe₂O₄ was prepared using the coprecipitation method and characterized by various physicochemical instrumental techniques like XRD, FE-SEM, UV-vis, Raman, and TG-DSC. Catalytic study of AN in the presence of nano-CoCuZnFe₂O₄ was investigated using DSC analysis. The Raman and XRD study confirm the formation of ferrite with a crystalline size 9-22 nm. TG suggests that the catalyst was thermally stable up to 400 °C with ∼10% mass loss. The UV-vis study shows that the optical band gap energy of CoCuZnFe₂O₄ was 2.6 eV, which may help in fast acceleration of electrons during thermolysis of AN, making the thermal decomposition of AN more favorable in the presence of CoCuZnFe₂O₄. The thermal decomposition investigation suggests that the activation energy of AN thermolysis in the presence of 2 wt % CoCuZnFe₂O₄ was decreased by ∼37%. It is concluded that CoCuZnFe₂O₄ can be used as an efficient catalyst for improving AN's thermal characteristics.