Novel powder catalysts of ferrocene-based metal-organic framework and their catalytic performance for thermal decomposition of ammonium perchlorate

It is of great significance to develop a novel and efficient combustion catalyst for thermal decomposition of ammonium perchlorates (AP) to regulate combustion performance of solid propellants . In this work, a series of ferrocene-based transition metals organic frameworks(MOFs) with 1,1′-ferrocenedicarboxylic acid (FcDA) as ligand, namely M-FcDA-MOFs (M = Co(II)、Mn(II)、Cu(II)、Fe(III) and Zn(II)), were successfully fabricated via simple solvothermal method . The samples were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), Field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The specific surface area and thermal stability of the samples were analyzed by N 2 absorption/desorption isotherms and thermogravimetry (TG). Catalytic performance of the M-FcDA-MOFs towards the thermal decomposition of AP was investigated with differential scanning calorimetry-thermogravimetry (DSC-TG) techniques. The results show that the ferrocene-based MOFs have large specific surface area and high thermal stability, and can remarkably decrease the high temperature decomposition peak temperature (HTD) and apparent activation energy , enhance the apparent heat release of AP, and their catalytic performance is better than that of commercial combustion catalyst catocene. Among the samples investigated here, the Co-FcDA-MOF exhibited the best catalytic activity, which can decrease the HTD peak temperature and activation energy of AP by 90 °C and 20.4%, respectively, and increase the apparent heat release by 1082 J·g −1 .