Facile Preparation of AP/Cu(OH)2 Core‐Shell Nanocomposites and Its Thermal Decomposition Behavior

Ammonium perchlorate (AP)/Cu(OH)2 core‐shell nanocomposites were successfully synthesized using a facile ultrasonic assisted‐coprecipitation synthesis route. The obtained AP/Cu(OH)2 nanocomposites were characterized by means of powder X‐ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Its thermal decomposition was studied under the non‐isothermal conditions with thermogravimetric analysis and differential scanning calorimeter (TG‐DSC) techniques. In this procedure, SEM and TEM observations revealed that Cu(OH)2 nanoparticles with an average size of 10–15 nm were uniformly deposited on the surface of AP particles. Detailed characterization results indicated that the existence of evidence of Cu(OH)2. As expected, it was found that the AP/Cu(OH)2 nanocomposites with mass fraction of 2 wt % Cu(OH)2 remarkably decreased the peak temperature of high temperature decomposition of AP by 80.2 °C from approximately 441.3 °C to 361.1 °C. As compared with pure AP, the AP/Cu(OH)2 nanocomposites show lower impact and friction sensitivity. These results may lead to potential applications of the AP/Cu(OH)2 nanocomposites in the composite solid propellants for accelerating the thermal decomposition of AP.