Synthesis of micro porous barium nitrate with improved ignition reliability as a reliable pyrotechnic oxidant

Abstract EN

Pure barium nitrate is one of the most widely used oxidizing materials in the field of pyrotechnics.

The ignition reliability of compositions based on this material is not very high and needs to be improved.

In the present work, modified barium nitrate with micro porous structure has been synthesized using three different vesicants to make it more reliable as a pyrotechnic oxidant.

Two pyrotechnic compositions were formulated by using pure and modified barium nitrate as oxidant and micro sized aluminum powder was used as a fuel.

The ignition temperature of both the compositions was determined using differential thermal analysis.

The composition formulated with the modified oxidizer ignited at lower temperatures as compared to the one formulated with pure barium nitrate depicting an improvement in the ignition behavior.

SEM results show that the modified barium nitrate has obvious pores of the order of few micrometers.

Bulk density of the modified oxidizer decreased due to the development of micro pores.

Crystallite size of the barium nitrate also decreased after the modification.