Mechanism of the decomposition of ammonium perchlorate

While it is generally accepted that the principal initial step in the decomposition of ammonium perchlorate is proton transfer, details of the subsequent reactions have not yet been resolved. In this paper, full use is made of recently published data on perchloric acid and chlorine dioxide flames, on the oxidation of ammonia, on the reactions of nitroxyl, and on the reactions of the chlorine oxides, to deduce a detailed mechanism for the chemical decomposition of ammonium perchlorate. While attention has been focused primarily on the so-called high-temperature decomposition, the basic mechanism is adaptable to a wide range of conditions; to the low-temperature decomposition, to combustion, to the catalysed decomposition and to decomposition under various reactive gases. Particular care has been taken to ensure that the proposed reactions are thermodynamically feasible and kinetically fast enough. The central feature of these proposals is that, in the decomposition of ammonium perchlorate, ammonia is oxidized principally by the CIO radical.