Novel powder catalysts of ferrocene-based metal-organic framework and their catalytic performance for thermal decomposition of ammonium perchlorate

It is of great significance to develop a novel and efficient combustion catalyst for thermal decomposition of ammonium perchlorates (AP) to regulate combustion performance of solid propellants. In this work, a series of ferrocene-based transition metals organic frameworks(MOFs) with 1,1′-ferrocenedicarboxylic acid (FcDA) as ligand, namely M-FcDA-MOFs (M = Co(II)、Mn(II)、Cu(II)、Fe(III) and Zn(II)), were successfully fabricated via simple solvothermal method. The samples were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), Field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The specific surface area and thermal stability of the samples were analyzed by N₂ absorption/desorption isotherms and thermogravimetry (TG). Catalytic performance of the M-FcDA-MOFs towards the thermal decomposition of AP was investigated with differential scanning calorimetry-thermogravimetry (DSC-TG) techniques. The results show that the ferrocene-based MOFs have large specific surface area and high thermal stability, and can remarkably decrease the high temperature decomposition peak temperature (HTD) and apparent activation energy, enhance the apparent heat release of AP, and their catalytic performance is better than that of commercial combustion catalyst catocene. Among the samples investigated here, the Co-FcDA-MOF exhibited the best catalytic activity, which can decrease the HTD peak temperature and activation energy of AP by 90 °C and 20.4%, respectively, and increase the apparent heat release by 1082 J·g⁻¹.