Much attention has been directed toward the development of new energetic materials to achieve the increasingly demanding performance of high-speed propulsion systems. Nanothermite is one of the main approaches for the development of new energetic materials by the close integration of oxidizer and metal fuel. This study is devoted to evaluating the impact of different carbon nanomaterials (graphene oxide, reduced graphene oxide, carbon nanotubes, and carbon nanofibers) on the thermal behavior of nanothermites based on potassium perchlorate and nano aluminium powder. Nanothermite compositions were prepared using a conventional sonication method. The morphology of nanothermites was characterized by a scanning electron microscope (SEM) coupled with energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), which confirmed that the nanoparticles are homogeneously dispersed without agglomeration. The structure of nanothermite was also characterized by Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and Raman spectroscopy. The impact of carbon nanomaterials on the combustion behavior of nanothermite was evaluated by thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), and bomb calorimetry. There was good agreement between results from DSC and bomb calorimetry. In general, the total heat released improved with the addition of carbon nanomaterials and particularly graphene oxide, which generated the highest increase in the heat of combustion. In addition, the maximum decomposition temperature shifted to a lower temperature, which indicates enhanced ignition characteristics. This is the first time reporting on the synthesis and characterization of tertiary nanothermites based on nano-aluminum, potassium perchlorate, and carbon nanosize materials. It can be concluded that these novel nanothermite compositions exhibit dramatically improved properties as demonstrated by a 200 % increase in the heat of combustion with only a 5 % addition of graphene oxide. Moreover, the ignition temperature decreased from 545.1°C to 508.7°C enhancing the overall combustion characteristics.
