Sciencemadness Discussion Board

New Member :)

Captain Chlorate - 10-8-2019 at 02:00

Hello everybody
My name is Captain Chlorate and I'm from Germany. Please excuse my bad english. My school time is a bit: P
I have gained a lot of experience in organic and inorganic chemistry in recent months.
My topics are pyrotechnics and explosives.
Hope for good exchange and a good relationship.
best regards


[edit by mod] Changed title from "Meber" to "Member" [/mod]

[Edited on 11-8-2019 by j_sum1]

SWIM - 10-8-2019 at 15:24

Your English looks pretty good.

A lot better than my German ever was.

Felis Corax - 10-8-2019 at 20:00

Welcome to the board!

Explosions aren't my thing, but I'm quite fond of fire. Have you ever synthesised trimethyl borate?

Captain Chlorate - 11-8-2019 at 00:07

Thank u Swim

@Felis Corax :

No, I have not yet :-) The problem which exists in Germany is the procurement of chemicals. Everything is fun in Germany and a large part of the EU is not allowed. So there is no legal KnO3 for sale, no H2O2 over 12% .You have to be careful if you want to buy aluminum powder: D otherwise threatens a house search ... There is only one thing ... Everything from their own strength produce .H2O2 comes in the freezer or is cooked to gain at least 30%. KnO3 is bought from abroad or made via KoH and Nh4No3.We cant buy Nitric Acid :(
As you can see we are really punished in Germany.
We have to do everything 90% of our own power.
But if that works, nice video like this one is created here:

Selfmade kclo3/Mg : https://youtu.be/tPzVJ4-8COw

Underground blasting : https://vimeo.com/353123962
Det.cap was 0.8g ETN and 0.2g HMTD

[Edited on 11-8-2019 by Captain Chlorate]

j_sum1 - 11-8-2019 at 00:25

Welcome, Captain Chlorate.
Organic, inorganic, pyrotechnics and explosives... You have covered quite a few bases there.

Sounds like you will fit in well around here. Stay, read, enjoy.
There are a lot of members with considerable experience and wisdom -- especially needed for the energetic materials field. My advice is to take things slowly, research everything and learn as much as you can from these wise heads.
You will also find considerable discussion on how to obtain what you require for your hobby. There are a large number of members in the EU. There are restrictions the world over but things are generally not as dire as they at first seem. Again, you need a level head and to know how to act.

Captain Chlorate - 11-8-2019 at 00:38

Thank you
yes much looks worse than it is because I agree with you. Yesterday I spent a lot of time browsing the forum. There are many very helpful topics to see and a lot of nice syntheses.

Felis Corax - 11-8-2019 at 01:37

There's something to be said for the challenge of having to make something yourself. I wouldn't value my iodine nearly as much if it was something I could just buy. I've had it for a couple of years and never used it for anything, but telling me I can't have a reagent just makes me want to make it.

I have a chlorate cell I built a year or two ago that I haven't gotten around to running yet. I assume that's how you get your chlorates? How about magnesium powder? I'd be afraid to try and powder magnesium in a ball mill.

Trimethyl borate is a fun one to make, though not good for much besides pretty green flames. Not too hard, though, if you have boric acid, methanol, and a few ml of concentrated sulfuric acid. And a passable fractional distillation apparatus. The flames are gloriously green... No yellow undertones at all, and the pale blue of burning methanol is only visible at concentration below around 20% if I recall correctly.

If concentrated sulphuric acid is a problem to acquire you might be interested in a thread on concentrating sulfuric acid without distillation. Though for some crazy reason everyone other than the op who tried the process did it with alcohols. I've been meaning to try myself but I just moved and haven't finished prepping/cleaning my new lab space. I've never mopped a basement ceiling before and I hope never to do so again. :(


Captain Chlorate - 11-8-2019 at 03:01

My Kclo3 is Crystalized from a way Cleaning Produkt.it contains 50%Nacl and 50%Naclo3.
I let it drop out by mix a Solution of the way Cleaner an Kcl or KnO3.I found no good Material for a cell.H2so4 is not a problem.iam a car Mechanic and can get 94-96% Solution.
I have tried to make green fire with Ba(no3)2 but its so terrieble hard to get an Goal with it.Now a have 1000grams without a Use for :D my idea is to make some Cu(NO3)2 by mix 2 Solution of Ba(no3)2 and Cuso4.Or i try to make some nitric acid with a Solution of H2So4 and Ba(no3)2 filtering off the Baso4 and Use the Liquid for Guncotton

Felis Corax - 11-8-2019 at 06:30

Cleaning products with NaClO3? Sweet! KCl is the usual starting material for chlorate cells, though you can use NaCl as well. For that matter, you could probably start with your NaCl/NaClO3 mix and electrolyze it to increase NaClO3 concentration.

Nitric acid is pretty high on my list of things to make. I could buy it, but that's not nearly as fun. There are several routes available, including electrolysis of a nitrate and even arcing 10K volts or so through air as per the Birkeland–Eyde process. Your idea of reacting Ba(NO3)2 and H2SO4 would probably work too, though it's not one I've researched at all.

Nitrocellulose is also on my list of things to make as it's a component in electric fuses, albeit not a critically necessary one. My interest is more in rocketry than explosives, but both benefit from a means of precisely controlled ignition. Also, guncotton is neat. :D

With ready access to sulfuric acid you could make trimethyl borate by fractional distillation of a solution of sulfuric acid, sodium tetraborate, and methanol. Nurdrage has a nice video about it on youtube. The distillate is a solution of trimethyl borate in methanol, which must be stored in a tightly sealed container as it's easily hydrolyzed. Of course the result is a liquid, which may not be what you want.

karlos³ - 13-8-2019 at 20:23

Another german? Welcome on board, fellow compatriot!

Is it just in my own perception, or are really large parts of english speaking boards about chemistry composed of germans?
I am not surprised of course, but after I started to notice this, it feels like they make a large part up of the general population, after americans and other "anglos" from elsewhere, are maybe even the second largest group after them? :o

One is not aware of them(of us) without having an idea what to look for, since they all have to learn proper english in school, and in scientific jobs or when studying even more, but then english for scientific purposes which makes it almost impossible to notice us and how much the german infiltration of these kind of forums has already proceeded :P

Captain Chlorate - 14-8-2019 at 00:12

My feeling tells me that the Germans are always the last ones to arrive somewhere: D The Germans often have the feeling that they are better: D I spent months on a German board and when a question was asked, it happened Often one was indirectly declared stupid. There the rest of the world is a little more helpful and friendly with their answers. In many life situations I do not like the German mentality: D that includes me

Ubya - 14-8-2019 at 00:24

Quote: Originally posted by karlos³  
Another german? Welcome on board, fellow compatriot!

Is it just in my own perception, or are really large parts of english speaking boards about chemistry composed of germans?
I am not surprised of course, but after I started to notice this, it feels like they make a large part up of the general population, after americans and other "anglos" from elsewhere, are maybe even the second largest group after them? :o

One is not aware of them(of us) without having an idea what to look for, since they all have to learn proper english in school, and in scientific jobs or when studying even more, but then english for scientific purposes which makes it almost impossible to notice us and how much the german infiltration of these kind of forums has already proceeded :P


yup you germans are everywhere:D probably because as you said, you are thought english pretty well at school. when i went to berlinin highschool every german could speak english well, while my class let me be the spokesman (i knew english better than the others by a big margin, imagine that...). if you know english you can "infiltrate" in english speaking boards, while if you don't you create your own in your language, but of course it will be much smaller with less users.
i guess sweeden and finland prefer other things and not chemistry

teodor - 14-8-2019 at 03:40

Quote: Originally posted by Captain Chlorate  
I spent months on a German board and when a question was asked, it happened Often one was indirectly declared stupid. There the rest of the world is a little more helpful and friendly with their answers.


... thanks God you never red any russian board :) Well, it's a joke, don't think about people based on their nationality.

[Edited on 14-8-2019 by teodor]