Catalytic effect of AgF on the thermal decomposition and combustion performance of DAP-4

Molecular perovskite energetic material (H 2 dabco)[NH 4 (ClO 4 ) 3 ] (DAP-4) is promising for solid propellants; however, its high ignition delay limits practical application. In this work, silver(I) fluoride (AgF) was introduced as a catalyst to prepare DAP-4/AgF composites. Their thermal decomposition and combustion performance were systematically investigated using X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, differential scanning calorimetry, thermogravimetry, Flynn–Wall–Ozawa isoconversional analysis, combustion testing, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. AgF was uniformly dispersed on DAP-4 particle surfaces. Increasing AgF content progressively lowered the decomposition temperature and reduced the mean apparent activation energy from 295.35 to 119.07 kJ/mol. Combustion performance initially improved and then declined, with DAP-4/AgF-1 showing the strongest response, a combustion heat of 11078 ± 84 kJ/kg, and a strand burning rate of 6.77 mm/s. The combined results are consistent with a possible AgF-associated interface-assisted modification of the overall decomposition process.