Synthesis of an ultra-fine Co₃O₄ / graphene composite by one-step hydrothermal process and its effective catalytic performance on thermal decomposition of ammonium perchlorate

The Co₃O₄/graphene composite was prepared by a facile one-step method under hydrothermal conditions. During this hydrothermal synthesis process, graphene oxide was reduced to graphene with three-dimensional networks structure and ultra-fine Co₃O₄ nanoparticles were simultaneously deposited on graphene sheets. The average particle size of the ultra-fine near-spherical Co₃O₄ nanoparticles on the surface of graphene was in the range of 10–20 nm. The influence of as-prepared composite on the thermal decomposition of ammonium perchlorate show a strong catalytic effect. The decomposition temperature was decreased by 95.2° when adding 3% Co₃O₄/graphene composite and the low temperature decomposition meanwhile disappeared.