Preparation and kinetics of the thermal decomposition of nanosized CuC2O4−ZnC2O4·2H2O

The physical mixture of nanosized CuC₂O₄−ZnC₂O₄·2H₂O, as precursors of CuO−ZnO, have been prepared by the one-step solid state reaction method at room temperature. The thermal decomposition processes taking place in the solid state oxalate mixture of nanometer CuC₂O₄−ZnC₂O₄·2H₂O have been studied in static air using TG, DSC, XRD and TEM techniques. TEM showed that the grain size of the decomposition product is 5–15 nm. The values of the activation energyE _α were determined using the isoconversional procedure of KAS method and the Ozawa method. The most possible mechanism functionf(α) of the thermal decompositions of nanosized CuC₂O₄−ZnC₂O₄·2H₂O are defined using the comparative method, function models of the decomposition of CuC₂O₄ and ZnC₂O₄ follow the same mechanism function “Avrami-Erofeev equation”. The pre-exponential factorA is obtained on the basis ofE _α andf(α), thus the thermal analysis kinetic triplet of the decompositions of nanosized CuC₂O₄−ZnC₂O₄·2H₂O are determined. Foundation item: Supported by the key Natural Science Fund of Deparartment of Science and Technology of Hubei Province (2001ABA099). Biography: CHEN Donghua(1946-), male, Professor, research direction: material synthesize and thermal, analysis kinetics.