| Abstract: | In this paper, we report the synthesis of cadmium cobaltite nanoparticles (CCNs) and their characterisation by X-ray diffraction (XRD), field emission scanning electron microscope (FE-SEM) and transmission electron microscope (TEM). The particles are spherical in shape and the average particle size is of the order of 20–30 nm. Its catalytic activity was investigated through the thermal decomposition of ammonium perchlorate (AP), composite solid propellants (CSPs), 5-nitro-2,4-dihydro-3H-1,2,4-triazole-3-one (NTO) and 1,3,5,7-tetranitro-1,3,5,7-tetraazacyclooctane (HMX) using thermogravimetry (TG), TG coupled with differential scanning calorimetry (TG-DSC) and ignition delay measurements. The kinetics of thermal decomposition of AP + CCNs has also been investigated using isoconversional and model-fitting approaches, which have been applied to data for isothermal TG decomposition. The burning rate of CSPs was considerably enhanced by these nanoparticles. The ignition delays and activation energies are found to decrease when CCNs were incorporated in the system. The addition of CCNs to AP led to a shifting of the high-temperature decomposition peak towards lower temperature. All these studies show enhancement in the rate of decomposition of AP, NTO, HMX and CSPs. |
