Primary resistant to impact

[Anders Hoveland]

Nickel hydrazine nitrate is a potential primary explosive that shows good resistance to impact, while still being easily initiated by flame.
This means that the complex salt may likely be safer to handle than other primaries.

the sensitivity to impact (the hammer drop height value at which the sample has a 50% chance of detonation) is 84cm. It is resistant to friction up to 10N, resistant against electrostatic discharge, but is sensitive to flame and will explode in contact with a red hot wire.

Another advantage, small amounts of the compound do not need confinement to detonate. Nickel hydrazine nitrate shows excellent initiating power for a primary. The detonation velocity 7km/s.

One note of warning, nickel hydrazine perchlorate is dangerously sensitive to friction. An accident involving only 5 grams cracked a fragment off a laboratory table and resulted in severe injury.

Here is a video:
wn.com/Nickel_Hydrazine_Nitrate

Here is the accident involving the perchlorate:
pubs.acs.org/cen/science/88/8834sci1.html

[sb15]

NHN is a compound I've been considering the synthesis of for a while. It has very nice properties, but the precursors being somewhat difficult to obtain has kept me from attempting it.

For anyone wondering, there's a pretty good description of the synthesis over on Science Madness.

[Anders Hoveland]

Congratulations on being the first new member to post!

What are the precursors you are having trouble with?
There are quite a few procedures available for making hydrazine with materials you likely have. Obtaining nickel salts should not be difficult.

Unfortunately, trying to make hydrazine complex salts with copper might not be a good idea. Although copper is more readily available, it catalyzes the decomposition of hydrazine.

On a side note, aluminum sulfate is available at garden stores to reduce the pH for soil, and urea pellets are used as fertilizer at the same place. You might see my writings about making guanidine: sites.google.com/site/ecpreparation/aminoguanidine2

The difficult part is that some pressure is required. Perhaps puting the reactants into a sealed metal pipe over fire, and abandoning it for several hours until the fire burns out. Only do this if it can be done in a remote location. There is a good chance the pipe could rupture sending a red hot end cap shooting out at extreme speeds. Such a metal pipe could easily hold 8 atmospheres of pressure.

[Anders Hoveland]

An aqueous solution of nickel nitrate was prepared, containing 8% Ni(NO3)2 by weight. 50mL of the solution was poured into a steel container, which was then heated to 65degC. Separately, 100mL of distilled water was warmed and maintained at around 60degC. Gradually over the period of 30 minutes, 7cm3 of hydrazine sulfate was added into the steel container, simultaneously together with 50mL of the water that had been separately prepared, the remaining water was discarded. The hydrazine sulfate used was somewhat wet to begin with. The color of the reactants in the steel container changed from a bluish tint to purple over the course of the reaction. The reaction was stirred for an addition 10 minutes, maintaining the temperature at 60degC. After cooling to 20degC, the purple colored product was filtered out over two layers of coffee filter paper, washed once with 50cm3 distilled water. The moist caked solid was then partially dissolved in >98% alcohol (50mL ethanol was used), then the alcohol was allowed to evaporate out on an electric hot plate set to only 60degC. The evaporation should be carried out in the dark, but with plenty of ventilation. About 5 hours are required for complete evaporation. From this procedure, about 11 grams of nickel hydrazinium nitrate is obtained, which is a 90% yield. Heating of the reactants/reaction is not in any way necessary, as similar yields were obtained at room temperature, but the product obtained from heating shows better physical properties, as the salt is of a more crystalline form. The crystalline form has a density of about 0.89 g/cm3. The nickel hydrazinium nitrate thus obtained, when gradually heated, explodes at 219degC. The compound appears thermally stable even up to 200degC. Sensitivity (50% probability of explosion using 2kg drop hammer from variable heights) value of 84cm. Velocity of detonation: about 7km/sec.

The co-crystallization of NHN with silver azide, such that the resulting clathrate contains 10% by weight of AgN3, increases the drop height sensitivity to a value of 66cm. Even such a clathrate containing only 2% silver azide is not much less sensitive, having a drop height value of 68cm. As a side note, cobalt hydrazinium nitrate, which can be similarly prepared, is even more sensitive, having a sensitivity drop height value of 59cm. The cobalt salt also explodes at a lower temperature, 188degC. Interestingly, however, the cobalt salt is actually somewhat less sensitive to friction than NHN.

[kemirockarfett]

Many people falseley belives that explosives become non explosives if they are wet. Sorry for them.

Primary explosives containing hydrazine or azides no thanks, dont want canser.

[Anders Hoveland]

Greetings new member!

Yes, unfortunately NHN does contain hydrazine, which could potentially leach out. One definitely would not want to handle this stuff with unprotected hands, and one should try to avoid breathing too close to the substance, especially if it is wet.
Although NHS is described as "hydrolytically stable", meaning it generally does not deteriorate after having been submerged in water, it is probably not a good idea to take any chances.

Many primaries have toxicity problems. At least with lead azide, the toxic azide is tightly bound in a completely insoluble crystal. The hydrazine in NHS would come off much easier.

Some primaries are temporarily rendered inert by being submerged in water. But many others only seem safe when they are wet; they can still explode without warning! An excellent example of this was the hydrazinium cobalt perchlorate someone made. They had it all wet in a nice "safe" paste form... until it exploded and they lost two fingers!

Apparently hydrazine and perchlorate are not very compatible together. Hydrazine and nitrate salts, however, are much safer. Hydrazine nitrate has about the same impact sensitivity to RDX (it is actually a little more resistant to impact than RDX, but unlike RDX if you try burning it the deflagration can quickly turn to detonation)

here is a quick compatibility list:

hydrazine + nitrate = safe
hydrazine + perchlorate = dangerous
hydrazine + nitroformate = moderately safe*
hydroxylamine + nitrate = safe
hydroxylamine + perchlorate = dangerous
ammonium + nitrate = very safe
ammonium + perchlorate = safe
ammonium + chlorate = very dangerous

*nitroformate [-]C(NO2)3 is one of those strange exceptions. Apparently the hydrazine salt, and especially ammonium, are relatively safe, yet potassium nitroformate is not only fairly sensitive, but also thermally unstable! Normally sodium/potassium salts are the safest form. There are some complicated reasons for this, which will not be discussed here. The potassium salt of nitroform, KC(NO2)3 is a lemon yellow crystalline solid that decomposes slowly at room temperatures and explodes above 95 °C. The ammonium salt is somewhat more stable, and deflagrates or explodes above 200 °C. Hydrazinium nitroformate is thermally stable to above 125 °C, and has been used as an experimental solid rocket fuel oxidzer, indicating it is at least moderately safe.