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EdricoRojo
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[*] posted on 24-1-2025 at 17:12
Sulfur in secondary's


So I know that with things like flash powder and what, sulfur can be a sensitizer that can behave unpredictably. It is not used much in energetic materials however. I can't think of any reaction that I have seen leave the sulfur atom from sulfuric acid. I believe there have been some experiments using sulfuric acid as the oxidizer, however I am interested in having a less caustic product. So referring to sulfur powder. Looking at the valence chart, Sulfur has a -2. So it could theoretically be used to balance out a pyro valence equation.
So my question is: Will sulfur powder behave as a sensitizer in a secondary, and to what extent.
Could it be used to sensitize something like anfo? Or similar binary mixtures.
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[*] posted on 24-1-2025 at 17:44


Sulfur is +4 pyrovalence because the product is generally SO2. The mp of sulfur is just above 100 C and can sometimes cause mp depression below that, depending on the other materials. Because of this, sulfur makes mixtures more sensitive to activation of redox. I have been experimenting with thermites lately and can get achieve explosive thermite activation from a number 8 cap if sulfur is added to the thermite.
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metalresearcher
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[*] posted on 24-1-2025 at 23:28


Sulfur is particularly a sensitizer in combination with chlorates (KClO3), so don't mix S with KClO3.
With KClO4 or KNO3 it is considerable less sensitizing.
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Tsjerk
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[*] posted on 25-1-2025 at 00:09


Sulfur itself or not the problem in combination with chlorates, it is the acidic impurities. When you recrystalize a couple of times it is a lot less unstable.
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Sir_Gawain
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[*] posted on 25-1-2025 at 08:09


Quote: Originally posted by Tsjerk  
Sulfur itself or not the problem in combination with chlorates, it is the acidic impurities. When you recrystalize a couple of times it is a lot less unstable.
Sulfur/chlorate mixtures are still highly sensitive to shock.



“Alchemy is trying to turn things yellow; chemistry is trying to avoid things turning yellow.” -Tom deP.
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[*] posted on 25-1-2025 at 09:41


The only (tested) mixture I know of that uses sulfur and could be used as a secondary material is: http://www.sciencemadness.org/talk/viewthread.php?tid=158259...
KClO3 70 + hexamine 15 + S 15

  • posted on 4-7-2024 at 14:54

    At ammonium nitrate binary mixtures teh sulphur not bring any advantage.




    Development of primarily - secondary substances: CHP (2015) neutral CHP and Lithex (2022) Brightelite (2023) Nitrocelite and KC primer (2024) Diper 60 (2025)
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    EdricoRojo
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    [*] posted on 26-1-2025 at 10:18


    I just rechecked Conklin, and you are correct Buddy. I had copied it over to a excel sheet to be easier to read, but screwed up the number for sulfur. Thank you for the correction.
    Which that is quite interesting your results with thermite. I look foreword to seeing more on that when your tests are complete. Are you using garden variety or recrystallized sulfur in your experiments?
    Which sulfur affecting redox is quite interesting as well. So that and the melting point effect are most likely a contributing factor in "Yellow Powder".


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