High energy core-shell Al@PVDF/AP composites with enhanced combustion efficiency by doping of graphene-based carbohydrazide complexes as catalysts.

• There graphene-based transition metal coordination polymers have been evaluated as the energetic catalysts in Al-based composites. • These catalysts are well doped in the PVDF/AP matrix as the oxidizer shell of Al-based composites prepared by a spray drying method. • The high energy level but low burn rate has been achieved for the Al@PVDF/AP in presence of these graphene-based catalysts. In this paper, energetic combustion catalysts doped core–shell Al@PVDF/AP composites have been fabricated via a spray-drying method, where three kinds of graphene-based energetic coordination polymers (GECPs, GO-CHZ-Co, GO-CHZ-Ni and GO-CHZ-Cu) are employed. These composites have been characterized comprehensively in terms of morphologies, thermal decomposition behaviors, energy density, combustion performances and condensed combustion products (CCPs). The results show that the GO-CHZ-Co and GO-CHZ-Cu could increases the heat of explosion for Al@PVDF/AP composites from 6885.2 J·g−1 to 7491.0 J·g−1 and 7390.1 J·g−1, respectively, which are 8.8 % and 7.3 % higher than the blank reference samples. Moreover, the burn rates for these composites decrease when GO-CHZ-Co or GO-CHZ-Ni is included, indicating that these composites are promising candidates with improved energy density even unusually with decreased burn rates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]