Highly Energy Release of Aluminum@Ammonium Perchlorate Composites Incorporated with Graphene Oxide-based Energetic Coordination Polymer

Achieving high energy release of aluminum (Al) and ammonium perchlorate (AP) is of significant importance in the realm of energy materials. In this work, integrated Al@AP/GO-CHZ-M (M = Co²⁺ or Ni²⁺) composites are successfully synthesized through an integrated design and precise catalysis approach. The integrated Al@AP/Co composites exhibit fast decomposition, with a 76.6 °C reduction in decomposition temperature and a 66.0% increase in heat release compared to Al+AP mixture counterpart. From a kinetic perspective, the decomposition activation energy for Al@AP/Co is largely decreased by 215.5 kJ mol⁻¹ (−67.4%) and its kinetics shifted to an autocatalytic model. Transition metals in GO-CHZ-M facilitate the proton transfer during the decomposition of AP, significantly increasing the yield of low-valence nitrogen oxides. The ignition of the Al@AP/M composites is enhanced, with a 37.2 ms (−40.2%) reduction in ignition delay and a 6.6-fold increase in radiation intensity over Al+AP. The change from deflagration for the physical mixture to detonation for integrated Al@AP/M composites further suggests high energy release. Furthermore, the mechanism of the integrated design and precise catalysis on the energy release enhancement of Al@AP composites is elucidated. This approach holds broad application prospects in the fields of solid propellants, aluminized explosives, micro-thrusters, and pyrotechnics systems.