Requesting safety info on addition of Manganese dioxide in perchlorate based flash compositions

[pyroboss235]

After reading a book which included some info on different flash compositions used in fireworks something caught my eye, i noticed that a lot of flash compositions included the addition of 0.5-1% manganese dioxide which is said to help catalyze the reaction in perchlorate/chlorate based flash compositions, i have never seen any info or videos on such an ingredient in flash powders, and i was wondering if anyone knew its effects on sensitivity as it listed as it would make the composition have a higher sensitivity due to lower activation energy or if its viable for use in flash compositions safely or have better effectiveness than sulfur, any data or info on its sensitivity would be much appreciated as i found no more info about its use online. thanks!

edit: oops sorry, i am unfamiliar with the menu on this forum and accidentally uploaded this to the wrong section! sorry!!!
 

Edited July 25 by pyroboss235

[AustralianPyromaniac]

What source is that snippet from? 

[mx5kevin]

It is far less effective than sulfur. I added 2% MnO2, to KClO4/Al/S you can notice a difference, but it is not significant. I don't think MnO2 is worth buying for this purpose. It ignites the composition more easily and can be a little faster. However, no difference in strength can be noticed. It will be stronger, but you won't notice it. It makes sense if the MnO2 is ground together with the oxidizer so that it can be seen in its color. It makes the composition more sensitive than stronger. It was when I was a beginner after a KMnO4 grinded KClO4, the grinded KClO4 turned purple from KMnO4 contamination, and the flash what made from it as the flame of a match touched it are caught fire immediately. Normally, it should be warmed up a bit. From a security point of view, this is disadvantageous.

[Zumber]

What are you doing with KP flash?

 are trying salute? 

[pyroboss235]

10 hours ago, Zumber said:

What are you doing with KP flash?

 are trying salute? 

I’m not sure if I should discuss that because of my new rank in this forum, however I assure you I’m not doing any crazy sensitive comps or stupid stuff, I put this question here to ask the effect of manganese dioxide on these comps, since I’ve never heard of it before

[pyroboss235]

17 hours ago, AustralianPyromaniac said:

What source is that snippet from? 

It’s from a pdf “A Professional's Guide to Pyrotechnics: Understanding and Making Exploding Fireworks” I found while looking back through my pdf file collection haha, it discusses salutes but I was reading it for fun and not to replicate since many compositions in that book were outdated and or dangerous and I definitely don’t plan to make any compositions in that book since I’m well educated on the dangers of certain compositions being death mixes, but it talked about the construction on some very old American firecrackers which I found interesting

[pyroboss235]

11 hours ago, mx5kevin said:

It is far less effective than sulfur. I added 2% MnO2, to KClO4/Al/S you can notice a difference, but it is not significant. I don't think MnO2 is worth buying for this purpose. It ignites the composition more easily and can be a little faster. However, no difference in strength can be noticed. It will be stronger, but you won't notice it. It makes sense if the MnO2 is ground together with the oxidizer so that it can be seen in its color. It makes the composition more sensitive than stronger. It was when I was a beginner after a KMnO4 grinded KClO4, the grinded KClO4 turned purple from KMnO4 contamination, and the flash what made from it as the flame of a match touched it are caught fire immediately. Normally, it should be warmed up a bit. From a security point of view, this is disadvantageous.

Thanks so much for the info! Yeah, most of the compositions that used these were ones that probably benefitted from higher sensitivity such as torpedo bombs, I only got thrown off when I saw the composition for original cherry bomb salutes included this along with sulfur, but thanks I will definitely keep this information in mind

[Crazy Swede]

Any catalyst or other activator that reduces the energy required to ignite a pyrotechnic composition (the activation energy) will also make the composition more sensitive and thus more dangerous to handle. 

Making flash more easily ignited is usually not needed or desired unless you are using very small amounts, like in mini crossette comets for example where ignition of the flash can be tricky.