Anchoring nano-sulfur on graphene oxide for high burning rate black powder

In order to obtain the composite with uniform composition, excellent energy release and combustion performance, nano-sulfur/graphene oxide composite (SG) was prepared by in situ anchoring nano-sulfur on graphene oxide (GO), then mixed with KNO3 to obtain nano-sulfur/GO/KNO3 composite (SGK). The morphology, composition, thermal decomposition and combustion performance of the composites were characterized by SEM, TEM, XRD, IR, XPS, DSC, TG-DSC-FTIR and HSVR. The results show that nano-S was anchored in situ on GO nanosheets and KNO3 was embedded in SG. The average diameter of nano-S is approximately 20 ~ 40 nm and the size of KNO3 is approximately 2 ~ 5 μm. The BET surface area of SGK composite is about 14 m2 g−1. The exothermic peak temperature of SGK was lower about 15 °C than that of the physical mixture. The reaction activation energy of SGK is 170.9 kJ mol−1 and 173.7 kJ mol−1 by Kissinger and Ozawa methods, respectively, which is lower by about 15 kJ mol−1 than the physical mixture. Compared with standard black powder, the average combustion speed of SGK increased by 8.4 mm s.