Preparation of Cu/CNT Composite Particles and Catalytic Performance on Thermal Decomposition of Ammonium Perchlorate

Composite particles of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and Cu were prepared by a chemical reduction method. Characterization of Cu/CNT composite particles was performed by TEM, SEM, FT‐IR, XRD, XPS, AAS, DTA and EDS. The results show that the surface of CNTs is covered by Cu particles, and that the diameter of Cu/CNT composite particles gets larger than that of CNTs. Furthermore, in the presence of Cu/CNT composite particles, the peak temperature of the high‐temperature decomposition of ammonium perchlorate (AP) decreased by 126.3 °C, and the peak of the low‐temperature decomposition disappeared. Compared with a sample of simply mixed Cu and CNTs, the peak temperature of the high‐temperature decomposition of AP‐Cu/CNTs composite particles decreased by 11.4 °C. Compared with Cu, the peak temperature of the high‐temperature decomposition of AP‐Cu/CNT composite particles decreased by 20.9 °C. This work shows that the catalytic performance of Cu on the thermal decomposition of AP can be improved by compounding with CNTs.