Graphene
oxide has attracted attention due to its excellent catalytic
properties, and it is expected to be used in the field of burning
rate catalysis. To investigate the synergistic effect of graphene
oxide and ferrocene derivatives, graphene oxide–(ferrocenylmethyl)
dimethylammonium nitrate composites (GO–FcMANO3)
were prepared and characterized by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy
(XPS), Raman analysis, X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron
microscopy (SEM), and their thermal stability and catalytic effect
on ammonium perchlorate (AP) were studied by thermogravimetry–differential
scanning calorimetry (TG–DSC) techniques. Based on interaction
region indicator (IRI) analysis, electrostatic potential (ESP) and
energy decomposition analysis on the basis of forcefield (EDA-FF),
the dispersion effect is the dominant component of interaction energy,
and the contribution of electrostatic attraction is small. The frontier
molecular orbitals illustrate that a higher highest occupied molecular
orbital (HOMO) energy makes GO–FcMANO3 more susceptible
to oxidization and is more conducive to catalyzing AP decomposition.
The TG data illustrated that the presence of GO in the composites
increased the thermal stability of FcMANO3 during AP decomposition.
The catalytic effect of GO–FcMANO3 for AP decomposition
manifested in two ways: it advanced the peak temperature in the second
stage of AP decomposition and reduced the exothermic temperature width
between two stages; it also increased the heat released during AP
decomposition. Combined kinetic analysis and the Friedman method provided
more detailed information about the catalytic behavior of composites
for AP thermolysis, and GO–FcMANO3 composites decreased
the E
a of the second stage of AP decomposition.
The introduction of GO influenced the decomposition physical model
of FcMANO3 for AP catalysis. The first stage of AP decomposition
transformed from random nucleation and two-dimensional growth of nuclei
model (A2) to random nucleation and three-dimensional growth of nuclei
model (A3), and the second stage changed from the phase boundary-controlled
reaction (R2) to random nucleation and two-dimensional growth of nuclei
model (A2).