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Iridium-decorated multiwall carbon nanotubes and its catalytic activity with Shell 405 in hydrazine decomposition

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Abstract

Iridium-functionalized multiwalled carbon nanotubes (Ir-MWNT) are the future catalyst support material for hydrazine fuel decomposition. The present work demonstrates decoration of iridium particle on iron-encapsulated multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWNT) by wet impregnation method in the absence of any stabilizer. Electron microscopy studies reveal the coated iridium particle size in the range of 5–10 nm. Elemental analysis by energy dispersive X-ray diffraction confirms 21 wt% of Ir coated over MWNT. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) shows 4f5/2 and 4f7/2 lines of iridium and confirms the metallic nature. The catalytic activity of Ir-MWNT/Shell 405 combination is performed in 1 N hydrazine micro-thrusters. The thruster performance shows increase in chamber pressure and decrease in chamber temperature when compared to Shell 405 alone. This enhanced performance is due to high thermal conducting nature of MWNTs and the presence of Ir active sites over MWNTs.

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Acknowledgments

This work is financially supported by ISRO-IISc space technology cell (Grant No. 222). The authors wish to acknowledge Department of Physics, Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bangalore, for XRD characterization and Advanced Facility for Microscopy and Microanalysis (AFMM), IISc, Bangalore, for SEM & TEM facility. We also acknowledge Prof. M. S. Hegde, Solid State and Structural Chemistry Unit, IISc, Bangalore for XPS, and Dr. M. M. Naik and Mr. Sambaiah of ISRO – LPSC, Bangalore for conducting the hydrazine decomposition test at their facility.

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Correspondence to M. S. Vasanthkumar.

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We do confirm that all the authors of the manuscript do not have any conflict of interest both in the text and the results presented.

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Prasad, V., Vasanthkumar, M.S. Iridium-decorated multiwall carbon nanotubes and its catalytic activity with Shell 405 in hydrazine decomposition. J Nanopart Res 17, 398 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11051-015-3199-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11051-015-3199-7

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