A Systematic Study of the Catalytic Decomposition Process of Ammonium Perchlorate and Its Decomposition Products Catalyzed by Copper and Copper Oxides

To reveal the core mechanism of copper-based materials in catalyzing ammonium perchlorate (AP) decomposition, three copper-based materials with the simplest structures (Cu, Cu2O and CuO) are selected as research objects. This study systematically investigates their catalytic performances, gaseous product evolution, kinetic laws, and combustion behavior in AP decomposition. The results show that all three materials exhibit excellent catalytic activity, reducing the peak temperature of AP high-temperature decomposition to 325.1 °C, 329.9 °Cand 337.3 °C, respectively, with the catalytic activity order of Cu > Cu2O > CuO. Gaseous product analysis confirms that both temperature and catalyst type jointly regulate product distribution. Kinetic analysis shows that the activation energy of Cu and Cu2O catalytic processes exhibits a three-stage change of “increase-decrease-increase” (related to their own oxidation), while CuO shows a two-stage change, and the kinetic behaviors of the three are consistent in the later stage. Combustion experiments indicate that catalytic activity is positively correlated with combustion efficiency; the Cu-catalyzed system has the shortest combustion duration (383 ms) and the largest flame area. This study proposes the catalytic process of copper-based materials as “initial property regulation-unified active species (CuO) action”, providing theoretical support for the directional design of high-performance copper-based catalysts.