Lanthanum-based perovskite oxide catalyst for AP thermal decomposition study

Lanthanum-based perovskite oxides LaMnxFe1-xO3 (x = 0.2, 0.4, 0.6, 0.8) were synthesized in four different stoichiometric ratios using the citrate sol–gel method. The structural formation was confirmed by FT-IR, X-Ray Diffraction (XRD), and Raman spectroscopy studies. Band gap (Eg) was determined by using the tauc plot. XRD studies reveal the tetragonal structure with an average crystallite size of 22 nm. The Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) images display uniform particle distribution with a porous nature. The material possesses a high Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) surface area (SBET) of 20.35 m²/g. The thermogram shows sharp, single-step high-temperature decomposition (HTD) of the ammonium perchlorate (AP) by using 1% LaMnxFe1-xO3. Their peak decomposition temperatures (Tpeak) are 338.9 ˚C, 332.9 ˚C, 342.8 ˚C, and 335.8 °C, respectively. These are lower by 76.1, 82.1, 72.2 and 79.2 °C temperatures as compared to pure AP. However, the activation energy values of AP in the presence of perovskites were higher than those of pure AP. This indicates that the catalysts hinder the reduction in the activation energy of the reaction.