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Preparation and catalytic activities of CuFe2O4 nanoparticles assembled with graphene oxide for RDX thermal decomposition

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Abstract

A graphene oxide-based nano-metal composite oxide CuFe2O4/GO was successfully prepared by a versatile self-assembly approach. Structure and morphological characterization of CuFe2O4/GO nanocomposite were studied in detail by a series of characterization techniques including XRD, FT-IR, XPS, BET, SEM, and TEM. The results revealed that the self-assembly process did not destroy the composition and morphology of the spinel-structured CuFe2O4 particle, and the transparent GO sheets with wrinkled and rough texture are tightly coated on the surface of CuFe2O4 nanoparticles like a layer of thin gauze clothing. The particle size of CuFe2O4 is about 200 nm. Catalytic activity of as-prepared CuFe2O4/GO nanocomposite on the thermal decomposition of cyclotrimethylene trinitramine (RDX) was investigated via differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). The experimental results show that the CuFe2O4/GO nanocomposite has much higher catalytic activity than single CuFe2O4 nanoparticles and GO. Thermal decomposition temperature and apparent activation energy of RDX were reduced from 241.27 to 220.34 °C and from 172.6 to 142.56 kJ mol−1, respectively. The improved performance could be attributed to the “positive synergistic effect” between CuFe2O4 nanoparticles and GO.

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Funding

This investigation received financial assistance from the National Defense Key Laboratory of China and the Natural Science Foundation of Shaanxi Province (2018JM5181).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Chemical Engineering, Northwest University, Xi’an, 710069, China

    Bo Liu, Weimin Wang, Jingjing Wang, Yu Zhang & Kangzhen Xu

  2. Xi’an Modern Chemistry Research Institute, Xi’an, 710065, China

    Fengqi Zhao

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  1. Bo Liu
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  2. Weimin Wang
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  3. Jingjing Wang
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  4. Yu Zhang
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  5. Kangzhen Xu
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  6. Fengqi Zhao
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Correspondence to Kangzhen Xu.

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Liu, B., Wang, W., Wang, J. et al. Preparation and catalytic activities of CuFe2O4 nanoparticles assembled with graphene oxide for RDX thermal decomposition. J Nanopart Res 21, 48 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11051-019-4493-6

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