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https://www.ias.ac.in/article/fulltext/boms/040/04/0691-0698

$\alpha$-Fe$_2$O$_3$; graphene/$\alpha$-Fe$_2$O$_3$ nanocomposite; ammonium perchlorate; thermal decomposition; catalytic activity.

$\alpha$-Fe$_2$O$_3$ nanoparticles were prepared by a facile hydrothermal method using ferric chloride hexahydrate(FeCl$_3$·6H$_2$O) as a precursor. Graphene oxide (GO) was synthesized using a modified Hummers method and graphenenanosheets (G) were successfully obtained by thermal reduction of GO. G/$\alpha$-Fe$_2$O$_3$ nanocomposite was prepared using ex situ synthesis in the presence of $\alpha$-Fe$_2$O$_3$ nanoparticles and GO solution. The characterization of the as-prepared materialswas performed using X-ray diffraction analyses and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy; their morphology wasinvestigated by scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy; the specific surface area (SBET) wasdetermined by nitrogen adsorption; their catalytic activity on the thermal decomposition of ammonium perchlorate (AP) wasinvestigated by differential thermal analysis (DTA). The results of DTA indicated that the obtained nanomaterials contributein ameliorating the thermal decomposition of AP; specifically, the high decomposition temperature of AP decreases from432 to 380$^{\circ}$C. A significant decrease in the activation energy was also achieved in the presence of these nanomaterials, and the mixture of ammonium perchlorate with G/$\alpha$-Fe$_2$O$_3$ showed the lowest value (from 129 to 80.33 kJ mol$^{−1}$).

MERIEM AMINA FERTASSI¹ QI LIU¹ RUNZE LI² PINGAN LIU² JINGYUAN LIU¹ RONG-RONG CHEN³ LIANHE LIU³ JUN WANG^{1 3}

1. Key Laboratory of Superlight Material and Surface Technology, Ministry of Education, Harbin Engineering University, Harbin 150001, People’s Republic of China
2. Metal Fuel Research Institute, College of Aerospace and Civil Engineering, Harbin Engineering University, Harbin 150001, People’s Republic of China
3. Institute of Advanced Marine Materials, Harbin Engineering University, Harbin 150001, People’s Republic of China

Published

15 August 2017

Manuscript received

21 May 2016

Accepted

26 August 2016