Sciencemadness Discussion Board

Aluminium nitrate explosive properties?!

Fantasma4500 - 27-4-2014 at 11:56

so.. i was on wikipedia looking at aluminium nitrate, suddenly this:

NFPA reactivity 3
''Capable of detonation or explosive decomposition but requires a strong initiating source, must be heated under confinement before initiation, reacts explosively with water, or will detonate if severely shocked (e.g. ammonium nitrate, chlorine trifluoride)''

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aluminium_nitrate

it has somewhat similar properties to AN when it comes to decomposing it, i recall this as i heated some of it after having a smaller deposit on my aluminium foil lids when handling NO2 in flasks.. but the actually practical properties.. would they be as with AN, better than AN or just as boring as ammonium sulfate, which is somewhat capable of being part of a charge without taking too much potential out of it?

i did try searching around for this but.. aluminium and nitrates are often used in charges, if not this then aluminium as witness plate against a nitrate of some sort, so .. getting a related result gets kind of hard..
havent ever heard about these properties however..

Manifest - 27-4-2014 at 12:10

Yes, you can make a fairly strong explosive with it. Requires a blasting cap though HMTD could be used.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZSSOF-2ohbQ

VladimirLem - 27-4-2014 at 12:12

nonahydrate (9H2O)

could that be a substitute for magnesium nitrate at a RDX synthesis?

Fantasma4500 - 27-4-2014 at 12:17

ehm.. manifest..
that is ammonal, 85 10 5, it was partially initiated with a few grammes of strong flashpowder in norway
i spoke to the guy and adviced him to try initiation of ammonal with flashpowder, thereafter he got in massive trouble somehow..
this is why you dont go out and light off things in daylight in scandinavia

i was thinking more about ALUMINIUM NITRATE, Al(NO3)3, nonahydrate or anhydrate
not ammonal -- in which requires a very weak initiator compared to other explosives

vladimir: im not entirely sure what you mean by that? there are so many much better anhydrous nitrates out there like KNO3 or even Ba(NO3)2 if you were to use it for nitration
you would need to get the nitrate into an acid anyways, which would be either sulfuric acid then followed by careful destillation, or acetic anhydride / glacial acetic acid or potentially anhydrous phosphoric acid

VladimirLem - 27-4-2014 at 12:25

Quote: Originally posted by Antiswat  

vladimir: im not entirely sure what you mean by that? there are so many much better anhydrous nitrates out there like KNO3 or even Ba(NO3)2 if you were to use it for nitration
you would need to get the nitrate into an acid anyways, which would be either sulfuric acid then followed by careful destillation, or acetic anhydride / glacial acetic acid or potentially anhydrous phosphoric acid


i thought of an dehydrating agent for the synthesis ;)

(when having the anhydrous aluminium nitrate )