Rapid synthesis and thermal catalytic performance of N-doped ZnO/Ag nanocomposites

N-doped ZnO/Ag nanocomposites were rapidly synthesized by a deflagration method within tens of seconds, using urea as fuel and citric acid as vesicant. Characterization results showed that the samples were nanoparticles with an average size of about 15 nm. Most of Ag existed in the form of metallic Ag (0), and N was doped into the composite in the form of acceptor impurities. Compared with pure ZnO, the N-doped ZnO/Ag nanocomposites possessed a remarkably enhanced catalytic efficiency on the thermal decomposition of ammonium perchlorate. This is particularly true for the sample containing 4.0% Ag as it offered the best catalytic performance and reduced the final decomposition temperature of AP to 290 °C from 453 °C. The mechanism showed that the high decomposition rate of AP was due to N doping and Ag modification being able to transfer efficiently electrons from ClO4− to NH4+ in ammonium perchlorate.