Catalytic performance of LaFexCo1-xO3 perovskites in the thermal decomposition of ammonium perchlorate: Kinetic and mechanistic study

LaFe_xCo_1-xO₃ (x = 0.2, 0.4, 0.6, 0.8) perovskite oxide nanoparticles with four different compositions were synthesized using the sol-gel method. Vibrational, optical, structural properties are studied by FT-IR, UV–visible spectrophotometry (UV-Vis), X-ray diffraction (XRD). As the amount of Fe content increases, there is shift in the highest intensity peak towards lower 2θ value in the XRD spectrum. DSC (Differential Scanning Calorimetry) plot was used to determine the best composition for ammonium perchlorate (AP) decomposition. LaFe_0.4Co_0.6O₃ was the optimal composition, exhibiting the lowest peak temperature. It exhibits lowest band gap of 3.0 eV and smallest crystallite size of 9.03 nm. The mean grain size measured by FE-SEM was ∼35 nm. LaFe_xCo_1-xO₃ perovskites reduce the thermal decomposition of AP to a single step process. Among all the four compositions prepared, LaFe_0.4Co_0.6O₃ decrease the exothermic peak of AP by 56 ˚C. Despite a low decomposition temperature range and low T_p, the formulation AP+ 1 %LaFe_0.4Co_0.6O₃ needs to surpass a higher energy barrier than AP.