combuster Posted January 27, 2008 Posted January 27, 2008 Are rubidium, cadmium, and lead nitrate or lead chloride still used in compositions? I was looking at skylighter and didn't find them there.
crazyboy25 Posted January 27, 2008 Posted January 27, 2008 No they are not used in pyro at all but they aren't useless. I bet I could find some uses for that rubidium
asilentbob Posted January 28, 2008 Posted January 28, 2008 Common guys, noob questions go in the noob section!
oskarchem Posted January 28, 2008 Posted January 28, 2008 Wouldn't lead nitrate still be used in pyrotechnics, I mean it produces a blue color when it combusts.. But yeah Iknow how toxic it is
Mumbles Posted January 28, 2008 Posted January 28, 2008 There is an article in one of the pyrotechnica volumes that goes into lead nitrate in pyrotechnics. I believe it comes of limited use due to toxicity, and the extremely high molecular weight. It makes it an inefficient oxidiser. I want to say it is used in some gasless delays, but I am probably totally off on that.
Bonny Posted January 28, 2008 Posted January 28, 2008 I remember seeing a formula with lead chloride. Blue star #7Source: "The Pyroguide" (a document found on internet)Comments: This one is inferior to "Blue star 6". Dangerous mixture since it contains both sulfur and a chlorate.Preparation: Bind with dextrin in water. Potassium chlorate................................12Copper sulfate....................................6Lead chloride.....................................1Sulfur............................................4 I don't think there is any good reason to make it though, due to the incompatibility safety hazard and the fact that I'm sure much better blues are available.
Draco_Americanus Posted January 30, 2008 Posted January 30, 2008 On the topic of outdated chemicals does any one know what Camphor was used for? I found a referance for it in a fireworks text from 1766, was it a fuel? binder maby?
TheSidewinder Posted January 30, 2008 Posted January 30, 2008 Camphor is a fuel, if I remember right. (I'd like to know more, too, so let's see if a chemist chimes in.)
Mumbles Posted January 30, 2008 Posted January 30, 2008 The only reference I could find was in Shimizu. It was under the entry for picric acid. Picric acid was used to increase the brilliance of flames. It said that it could be replaced by lampblack or camphor for this purpose. It sounds like it acts somewhat like hexamine. Kentish makes a brief reference to it being used in place of rosin, which is a fuel and binder, though a bad one. He says it might be used to produce a tint whatever that means. I think the widest use is mixing it into NC lacquer to render it more flexible for coating fuses or whatnot.
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