Thermal decomposition study of ammonium nitrate in the presence of nickel‑zinc ferrite additive

Abstract

The catalytic influence of nanocrystalline Nickel‑zinc ferrite (NiZnFe2O4) on the thermal decomposition of high energetic ammonium nitrate (AN) was investigated. A study of the thermal decomposition of pure AN and AN+NiZnFe2O4 composition was carried out using simultaneous thermal analysis data at three heating rates (5, 10, and 15 K min−1). Three non-isothermal methods were used to calculate the kinetic parameters of the decomposition of AN and AN+NiZnFe2O4. Moreover, the kinetic data were used to study the influence of NiZnFe2O4 on the thermodynamics of AN's thermal decomposition. The results confirm that the addition of 2 wt% NiZnFe2O4 in AN can decrease the activation energy barrier of AN's decomposition by 43 kJ mol−1 without significantly decreasing (∼2 K at β = 10 °C min−1) the thermal decomposition temperature of AN. 1.7 times decrement in the pre-exponential factor (ln A) of AN in the presence of 2 wt% NiZnFe2O4 confirms faster thermal decomposition of AN+NiZnFe2O4 than pure AN. Therefore, AN+ 2 wt% NiZnFe2O4 can be used as a potential candidate for substituting in AN-based energetic formulation to improve their thermal performance.

Keywords

• Additive
• Ammonium nitrate
• Ferrite
• Kinetics
• Thermal decomposition