Steps Posted January 7, 2009 Posted January 7, 2009 Was curious if anyone knew if Potassium Salicylate was better than the same of sodium. Like how people recommend potassium benzoate over sodium. Chemical shop sells it want to see if maybe its worth getting.
asilentbob Posted January 7, 2009 Posted January 7, 2009 The potassium salts of salicylic acid and benzoic acid are less hygroscopic than the sodium salts... so that could be something to consider. That being said... Some of the really old dog rocket guys still use sodium benzoate... so yeah. The stuff from just any old chemical supplier will probably be crystals and quite high purity. Your going to have to ball mill the crap out of the stuff anyways... and why pay extra for chem lab grade when other grades are fine for pyro?
Steps Posted January 7, 2009 Author Posted January 7, 2009 The potassium salts of salicylic acid and benzoic acid are less hygroscopic than the sodium salts... so that could be something to consider. That being said... Some of the really old dog rocket guys still use sodium benzoate... so yeah. The stuff from just any old chemical supplier will probably be crystals and quite high purity. Your going to have to ball mill the crap out of the stuff anyways... and why pay extra for chem lab grade when other grades are fine for pyro? Bit harder as its Australia not as many pyro companies selling it, im just checking if there less hygroscopic i feel that could be better. I'll see what is cheaper in the end. Funny, but I've never run across anyone selling potassium salicylate. Or heard of anyone using it. My personal favorite is sodium salicylate when a burn enhancer is needed, because of the price and availability of red iron oxide. Who knows might just grab to see how it goes.
Mumbles Posted January 7, 2009 Posted January 7, 2009 Just as a general property, the potassium salts are usually far less hygroscopic than the sodium variety. Perchlorate, Chlorate Chloride, Nitrate, Benzoate, Carbonate, Sulfate, Acetate, etc. It'd be a fair assumption that it's less hygroscopic. Although, I generally don't hear any complaints about the hygroscopic nature of sodium salicyliate.
Nemo_Tenetur Posted January 8, 2009 Posted January 8, 2009 Potassium salicylate is hard to find, at least here in Germany. Even Sigma-Aldrich doesn´t sell it in their catalogue. On the other hand, it is used in some cosmetic and pharmaceutical formulations.BTW, why is salicylic and benzoic acid used as salt for whistle compositions, whereas gallic acid is used as free acid?
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