Preparation and Evaluation of Effective Combustion Catalysts Based on Cu(I)/Pb(II) or Cu(II)/Bi(II) Nanocomposites Carried by Graphene Oxide (GO)

In this work, the preparation and combustion catalysis effects of Cu₂O−PbO/GO and CuO−Bi₂O₃/GO nanocomposites were systematically investigated. It was shown that the burning rate of the DB propellants can be significantly enhanced by both the nanocomposite catalysts, with reduced pressure exponent. In particular, the Cu₂O−PbO/GO induced a burn rate enhancement for DB propellant in pressure range of 2–14 MPa, with the maximum catalytic efficiency of 3.87 at 2 MPa. More interestingly, it resulted in “mesa” burning of DB propellant in the pressure range of 12–20 MPa (n=-0.05). The CuO−Bi₂O₃/GO have the same effect with a burning rate increasing from 2.15 to 8.57 mm s⁻¹ at 2 MPa. Similarly, for the RDX-CMDB propellant, the GO-based composites of Cu₂O−PbO/GO and CuO−Bi₂O₃/GO showed evident catalytic activities. Plateau combustion was achieved in their presence, which is of great importance for practical applications. The catalysis effects of the two composites are closely related to the high dispersion of metal oxide particles and GO with excellent thermal conductivity.