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Superparamagnetic energetic nanoparticles: a surface self-propagation pathway for the thermal decomposition of ammonium perchlorate

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Abstract

In this work, our research group developed usable low-cost superparamagnetic nanoparticles (Fe3O4@NTA) that behave as an excellent energetic material to accelerate the thermal decomposition of ammonium perchlorate (AP). As a synthetic strategy, magnetite nanoparticles (Fe3O4) were coated with nitrilotriacetic acid (NTA) by a simple preparation method. Based on High-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HR-TEM) and vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM) results, Fe3O4@NTA presents a mean diameter of 7.4 nm and superparamagnetic behavior. Chemical characterization by Energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (XPS), Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) provided enough evidence for the presence of a carboxylic acid group and magnetite in the sample. The Fe3O4@NTA catalyst diminishes AP high-temperature decomposition (HTD) to 342 °C and shows a low activation energy (98.02 kJ mol−1). In addition, after the burning rate test, it was observed that these resulting nanoparticles showed an adequate magnetic response against an external magnet. These results are promising for future research, as the opportunity opens to reuse this functional magnetic material in successive catalytic cycles, thus contributing soon to the recycling of raw materials necessary for interplanetary travel.

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Acknowledgements

This research was supported by FONDECYT grants 1210827 and 11170879 and FONDECYT postdoctoral grant 3220124.

Funding

Fondo Nacional de Desarrollo Científico y Tecnológico, 1210827, Cesar Morales Verdejo, Agencia Nacional de Investigación y Desarrollo, 11170879, Gabriel Abarca, 3220124, José Gaete.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centro Integrativo de Biología Y Química (CIBQA) Aplicada, Universidad Bernardo OHiggins, General Gana 1702, Santiago, Chile

    José Gaete, Cristián Valdebenito, Yuvaraja Dibdalli, Gabriel Abarca & César Morales-Verdejo

  2. Facultad de Ciencias Químicas Y Farmacéuticas, Laboratorio de Operaciones Unitarias E Hidrometalurgia, Universidad de Chile, Dr. Carlos Lorca Tobar 964, Santiago, Chile

    José Gaete, Fernando Valenzuela & Carlos Basualto

  3. Laboratorio de Materiales Energéticos, Instituto de Investigaciones Y Control del Ejército de Chile (IDIC), Av. Pedro Montt 2136, Santiago, Chile

    Juan Luis Arroyo & Ángel Norambuena

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  1. José Gaete
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Contributions

JG contributed to Formal analysis, Methodology, TEM measurements analysis, Writing, review & editing, Investigation. CV contributed to Software, Formal analysis, Investigation. YD contributed to Formal analysis, Investigation, Writing. JLA: Resources, Formal analysis, Investigation. AN contributed to Resources, Formal analysis, Investigation. FV contributed to Resources, Formal analysis, Investigation. CB contributed to Resources, Formal analysis, Investigation. GA contributed to Conceptualization, Methodology, TEM measurements analysis, Writing, review & editing, Investigation, Supervision. CM-V contributed to Conceptualization, Methodology, Writing, review & editing, Investigation, Supervision. All the authors discussed the results and commented on the manuscript.

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Gabriel Abarca or César Morales-Verdejo.

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Gaete, J., Valdebenito, C., Dibdalli, Y. et al. Superparamagnetic energetic nanoparticles: a surface self-propagation pathway for the thermal decomposition of ammonium perchlorate. J Therm Anal Calorim 148, 2313–2321 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10973-022-11885-5

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