The design of the catalyst bed plays a fundamental role in the development of high-performance green propulsion systems based on high-test peroxide. This work investigates the behavior of 3D-printed alumina catalysts shaped as gyroids, produced entirely in-house through a digital light processing (DLP) commercial setup. The manufacturing methodology includes a thermal treatment tailored to the developed ceramic formulation, followed by infiltration and impregnation steps to deposit manganese oxides as the active phase. Reactivity tests performed in a lab-scale reactor show a clear dependence of the decomposition behavior on both the specific surface area of the gyroid structures and the amount of MnOx deposited. A dedicated gyroid catalyst bed was then evaluated in a decomposition chamber mimicking thruster-like conditions, reaching decomposition efficiencies up to 99%. The results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed end-to-end approach to catalyst manufacturing and testing, highlighting the potential of 3D-printed gyroid structures as viable alternatives to conventional catalyst beds.
Carlotti et al. (2026) studied this question.