Thermal decomposition and combustion behavior of potassium perchlorate catalyzed by LaFeO3

Abstract

To improve the combustion behavior of potassium perchlorate-based pyrotechnics, this study successfully prepared perovskite LaFeO3 with nitrates as raw materials using the co-precipitation method and characterized perovskite LaFeO3 through X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and energy dispersive spectrometry (EDS). Moreover, it investigated the catalytic effect of LaFeO3 on the thermal decomposition of potassium perchlorate (KP) through the differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and thermogravimetric analysis (TG) and explored the thermal reaction behavior of pyrotechnics composed of KP and lactose. The results show that the thermal decomposition temperature of KP was 552 ​°C by adding LaFeO3, reduced by 58 ​°C. The temperature of catalytic decomposition was exactly the extrapolated onset temperature of the endothermic melting peak of KP. The addition of LaFeO3 caused the premature decomposition of the KP not yet molten, thus generating more heat in its thermal decomposition. Moreover, the addition of LaFeO3 reduced the thermal reaction peak temperature of pyrotechnics by 7 ​°C and increased the burning rate to more than two times.

Keywords

• Potassium perchlorate
• LaFeO3 perovskite
• Catalytic decomposition
• Pyrotechnics
• Combustion