Preparation of Cr₂O₃/AP Composites and their Thermal Decomposition Characteristics

Cr2O3/AP (ammonium perchlorate) energetic composites were prepared by a method of solvent/anti-solvent. XRD analysis re- vealed that the crystalline structure of AP in Cr2O3/AP composites is the same as that of pure AP. SEM photomicrograph shows that an average size of cuboid Cr2O3/AP composites is approximately 2.5 µm. TGA analysis shows that the addition of submicron Cr2O3 particles into AP lowers the HTD (high-temperature decomposition) compared to that of neat AP and the activation energy of the Cr2O3/AP composites was calculated by the isoconversional Starlink method. Considering changes in the activation energy, the decomposition reaction mechanism of AP was suggested as follows; the decomposition with the formation of nucleation sites renders formation of porous structure in the composites up to conversion of about 0.25 and after further conversion of over 0.3, it seems that decomposition reaction vigorously takes place rather than sublimation of AP.