Synthesis of flower-like and dendritic platinum nanostructures with excellent catalytic activities on thermal decomposition of ammonium perchlorate

• Flower-like and dendritic Pt nanostructures were synthesized by a simple replacement reaction.
• Flower-like Pt nanostructure is comprised of many thin nanosheets.
• Dendritic Pt nanostructure is abundant in interconnected nanoparticles.
• Flower-like and dendritic Pt accelerate thermal decomposition of AP.

A simple and effective method is developed to synthesize flower-like platinum (Pt) nanostructures through galvanic replacement reaction between aluminum (Al) nanoparticles and PtCl2 aqueous solution at room temperature. Pt flowers exhibit an average size of approximately 1 μm, and many thin nanosheets comprise such flower-like structure. Dendritic Pt nanostructures can be obtained by simply adding an amount of polyvinyl pyrrolidone (PVP) into the reaction solution. Nanodendrites, which are 30–100 nm in size, are rich in interconnected nanoparticles. The catalytic activity on the thermal decomposition of ammonium perchlorate (AP) was characterized by DSC/TGA. Results showed that the addition of flower-like and dendritic Pt nanostructures decrease the high decomposition temperature of AP by 96 °C and 114 °C, and increases the total DSC heat release by 1.28 and 1.36 kJ g−1, correspondingly. The obtained Pt nanostructures demonstrate excellent catalytic activity for thermal decomposition of AP.

Figure optionsDownload as PowerPoint slide