Investigation of metal oxides as catalysts for the thermal decomposition of potassium chlorate(VII)

The results of studies on the thermal decomposition of potassium chlorate(VII) (PP) and the catalytic effects of copper, iron, nickel, titanium, magnesium, chromium and manganese oxides on the process are presented in this paper. The investigated oxides are ranked according to the magnitude of their catalytic effect; of these, CuO and MnO₂ show the best catalytic performance. These oxides reduce the PP decomposition temperature from 919.3 K down to even 825.2 K. The share of the catalytic additive in the composition, required to achieve a desirable thermal decomposition profile, was found to be no more than 0.5 wt.%. The activation energy of the decomposition process was determined, using the modified Freeman and Carroll method for both neat PP and PP supplemented with MnO₂; the addition of the catalyst produced a 48.8% decrease in the activation energy of thermal decomposition.