The Catalytic Effect of CuO-Doped Activated Carbon on Thermal Decomposition and Combustion of AN/Mg/NC Composite

The activated carbon (AC) doped with CuO (AC-CuO) has been prepared and evaluated as a promising catalyst of energetic compositions. The catalytic activity of AC-CuO on ammonium nitrate/magnesium/nitrocellulose (AN/Mg/NC) composite has been investigated as a typical example. It has been shown that AC-CuO could greatly enhance the decomposition and combustion performances of energetic composites. Thermal analyses indicate that AC-CuO has significant catalytic effects on decomposition of the AN/Mg/NC composite by decreasing the decomposition peak temperature from 261.4 to 209.0 °C, with decreased activation energy from 90.1 to 81.5 kJ mol –1 . The linear burning rate of the AN/Mg/NC composite in the presence of AC-CuO increases approximately twice ( r b = 20.46 mm s –1 vs r b = 10.27 mm s –1 at a chamber pressure of p 0 = 3.5 MPa).