Supercritical solvothermal synthesis and formation mechanism of V2O3 microspheres with excellent catalytic activity on the thermal decomposition of ammonium perchlorate

V2O3 with the structure of microspheres has been successfully synthesized by a facile supercritical solvothermal method. The samples have a rhombohedral structure and the morphology of microspheres. The formation mechanism is proposed on the basis of the discussion on the self-assembly process of uniform microsphere structure. Furthermore, the catalytic activity of as-obtained V2O3 microspheres was investigated through the thermal decomposition of ammonium perchlorate (AP). The thermal decomposition temperature was reduced by 46 degrees C in the presence of 2 wt% of V2O3 microspheres, indicating that V2O3 with microspheres structure has excellent catalytic property. In addition, the possible catalytic mechanism of the microspheres for the thermal decomposition of AP is simply discussed. This study provides a simple way to control the morphology of V2O3 nanostructure, which also exhibits the potential application in modern science and technology. (C) 2019 Published by Elsevier B.V.