Regulated synthesis of 3D nano-flower-like MnCo2O4.5 catalytic materials to enhance thermal decomposition of ammonium perchlorate

Morphological control enables precise modulation of the specific surface area, pore structure, and crystal structure of catalytic materials, thereby enhancing catalytic efficiency. In this study, morphology controlled synthesis of MnCo2O4.5 samples was achieved by solvent-hydrothermal method by varying the ethylene glycol to deionized water volume ratio. The 3D nano-flake-like MnCo2O4.5 material with a larger specific surface area was successfully prepared at a volume ethylene glycol to deionized water (6:40). The ammonium perchlorate (AP) is high temperature decomposition (HTD) peak temperature decreases from 473.48 °C of pure AP to 304.39 °C and the heat release increases from 888.26 J g−1 to 2094.50 J g−1 after the addition of 2.0 % 3D nano-flower-like MnCo2O4.5. The activation energy (Ea) goes down to 89.2 kJ mol−1 relative to pure AP (296.8 kJ mol−1). When applied to Hydroxy-terminated polybutadiene composite solid propellant (HTPB-CSP), the combustion process of HTPB-CSP containing 3D nano-flower-like MnCo2O4.5 is more intense compared with only containing pure AP. The time to achieve the maximal combustion effect is accelerated from 390 ms to 268 ms, and the ignition delay time is lowered from 35 ms to 23 ms. Based on its microstructural design and optimization, MnCo2O4.5 has a remarkable catalytic performance for AP thermal decomposition, according to the experimental results.