Preparation of Pd-B/TiO2 amorphous alloy and its catalytic performance on the thermal decomposition of ammonium perchlorate

Metal-metalloid amorphous alloy catalysts have attracted much attention owing to their excellent activity and selectivity. In this paper, the Pd-B/TiO₂ amorphous alloy was prepared by liquid phase chemical reduction method. The Pd-B/TiO₂ amorphous alloy was characterized by high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), inductively coupled plasma (ICP), x-ray diffraction (XRD) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The results show that amorphous alloy Pd-B was formed with the size of around 10 nm, and exhibits better dispersion on the surface of TiO₂ support. The catalytic activity of Pd-B/TiO₂ on the thermal decomposition of ammonium perchlorate (AP) was investigated by simultaneous thermogravimetry and differential thermal analysis (TG-DTA). The results show that Pd-B/TiO₂ exhibits better catalytic activity on the thermal decomposition of AP. Enriched electron state of Pd active sites and high dispersion of the Pd-B active sites on TiO₂ support are mainly responsible for the improvement of catalytic activity of Pd-B/TiO₂ amorphous alloy catalyst. In addition, the possible mechanism of Pd-B/TiO₂ catalytic activity on the thermal decomposition of AP was also discussed.