Sciencemadness Discussion Board

Strontium peroxide?

mirgp - 7-11-2016 at 23:54

I was browsing through ebay recently and I saw that there was a guy selling some strontium peroxide. I tried to look up information about it but I could not really find any relevant information on it. Im mainly interested in the pyrotechnic side of it but any information on its chemistry would be interesting.

Here is the listing on ebay if anyone is interested!
http://www.ebay.com/itm/112036131664?_trksid=p2060353.m1438....

greenlight - 8-11-2016 at 07:43

Being a strontium compound it would obviously impart a red colour to the flame when mixed with a fuel.
One of the the more interesting uses I am quite sure of is in infrared bullet tracers.
Interesting chemical..

mirgp - 8-11-2016 at 07:54

Quote: Originally posted by greenlight  
Being a strontium compound it would obviously impart a red colour to the flame when mixed with a fuel.
One of the the more interesting uses I am quite sure of is in infrared bullet tracers.
Interesting chemical..

Maybe I should buy some of that stuff and do some experimenting to see what kind of properties it has... Might be worth the risk of it being super boring :/

kratomiter - 12-11-2016 at 11:27

I could be useful to make some flash-like mixtures, or even low amounts of pure hydrogen peroxide. Even in rocket RNX mixtures as ferric oxide substitute: it has a positive OB, if it can catalyze the decompositoon reaction it will be great.

Bert - 13-11-2016 at 03:30

It is used with Mg for projectile tracer compositions. Barium peroxide is used for such compositions as well.


ave369 - 20-11-2016 at 06:10

I don't think it's boring. First, it's strontium, which means red flame. Second, it's a peroxide, which means it's an oxidizer. Third, if it's similar to barium peroxide then it isn't hygroscopic.

Bert - 20-11-2016 at 09:45

As noted, useful in milspec applications. That implies good storage life... There are many variations listed online, along with the first fires, dark igniter relays & etc.

Too expensive for civil pyrotechnics, where Sr carbonate or nitrate (occasionaly oxalate) are the colorants of choice? I have seen Ba or Sr peroxides offered very occasionally by Firefox or Skylighter. Costs were usually 4X or more of the various perchlorates and nitrates used in their stead.

Some who have made colored stars with Barium peroxide as both oxidizer and colorant have claimed it superior to Barium nitrate, particularly in stars using 2 part rubber binder/fuel systems borrowed from high power rocketry. I have not personally tried the experiment- But do note that the applications with this found online generally contain Mg or Mg/Al, and hence are NOT water bound. So peroxides are probably in the area of "usefull, but chemicaly and technologically ignorant amateurs can easily get in trouble with the chemistry".

If you do try it, keep quantities SMALL, work outdoors and wear your protective gear. Do not store, and don't work near other active materials. Please do report any results-

kratomiter - 21-11-2016 at 15:13

I've been playing around with it and definitely is a strong oxidant, its reaction with sugar is stronger than I thought.

mirgp - 21-11-2016 at 23:50

I bought some strontium peroxide and right now waiting for it to arrive. Will probably do some tests with different fuels and see if it has any remotely practical uses. I'll come back with more information soon

kratomiter - 22-11-2016 at 12:54

I'd test it with magnalium and makes a good bang, although is hard to ignite.