Reaction-dominated combustion control of ammonium perchlorate-based composites by layered V2C MXene

Reactive combustion catalysts (RCCs) are emerging materials for the combustion control of ammonium perchlorate (AP)-based propellants owing to their unique ability to control burning rates, high atomic utilization, and high-energy output. This paper reported that the combustion of AP-based propellants can be greatly enhanced by applying vanadium carbide (V₂C) MXene as RCCs because of its combined advantages of unique reactivity and high chemical energy storage. The decomposition of AP in the presence of V₂C MXene involves both direct reaction decomposition and catalytic decomposition. V₂C MXene preferentially reacts with AP as fuel, releasing its chemical energy in the form of heat and forming VO_x/C nanosheets. The VO_x/C nanosheets formed in situ can serve as catalysts to promote thermal decomposition of the remaining AP. Unlike other combustion catalysts, the direct redox reaction between V₂C MXene and AP dominates the decomposition of AP. Compared with other RCCs that mainly work through catalytic decomposition, V₂C MXene exhibits a greatly increased burning rate, a shorter to-steady-state-combustion time, and greater energy release.