Ferrocene-modified dendrimers as support of copper nanoparticles: evaluation of the catalytic activity for the decomposition of ammonium perchlorate

Ferrocene (Fc)-based systems are frequently used as burning rate catalysts in the decomposition of ammonium perchlorate (AP)-based propellants. However, small Fc derivatives migrate to the surface of the propellant resulting in undesirable changes in the designed burning parameters and unstable combustion. To retard the migration and to increase the combustion rate of AP, fourth-generation polyamidoamine (PAMAM) dendrimers modified with Fc (PAMAM generation 4 G4]-Fc) were synthetized and used as support for the obtention of copper nanoparticles (CuNPs). PAMAM G4 produced smaller nanoparticles (1–2 nm) with lower aggregation than PAMAM G4-Fc (12–14 nm). X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) characterization confirmed the superior stabilizing and protecting effect against oxidation of CuNPs by PAMAM G4 in comparison to PAMAM G4-Fc, whereas molecular dynamics simulations have shown less flexibility and lower presence of stabilizing sites for nanoparticles in PAMAM G4-Fc. Antimigration tests confirmed the negligible migration of PAMAM G4-Fc compared with Fc, whereas PAMAM G4-Fc|CuNP affected the high-temperature decomposition of AP positively, decreasing the decomposition temperature in 87 °C owing to a synergistic effect between CuNPs and Fc. PAMAM G4-Fc can act both as an effective antimigration system of Fc and as a stabilizing framework of metal nanoparticles with application as catalysts of AP.