In the 17th century, Johan Kunkel first received explosive mercury. The recipe for the manufacture of this compound is described in his book, which was published after the death of the alchemist. After opening, explosive mercury was not used until 1800. The compounding recipe was discovered by Edward Howard. The scientist has studied many of its properties. The exact chemical composition of the compound was determined by Liebig in about 1824.
It should be noted that before this event in 1807, Forsyth patented the use of a substance as an initiator of detonation of smoke powder. In 1836, a gun was created in which a shock igniter was used. Impact igniters in Russia began to produce since 1843. In 1867, Nobel invented the detonator capsule, which was successfully used in the detonation of dynamite.
Explosive mercury is a fairly toxic compound. But its main danger, as it turned out, is not in toxicity.
The structure of explosive salts was finally deciphered by 1890. These compounds in science have acquired a more stringent name - fulminates ("lightning").
For many years, explosive mercury ignited the charges of gunpowder and dynamite. However, in recent years other compounds have also been used. For example, new initiating explosives - teneres and lead azide. Moreover, the latter is, according to scientists, the main one today.
Rattlesnake is “afraid” of moisture. In addition, as practice shows, it is not always able to provoke the activity of a secondary compound and often requires an additional detonator.
Explosive mercury is presented in the form of a gray or white crystalline powder. When dry, it exhibits high sensitivity to shock, fire, friction and other influences. An explosion occurs when a compound of concentrated sulfuric acid is exposed . The decomposition of explosive mercury is caused by concentrated acids, as well as boiling and alkaline salts.
Formula for mercury (detonating) Hg (CNO) 2.
Crystallization of a yellow hemihydrate occurs from an aqueous solution (due to the presence of an admixture of the hydrolysis product). It does not differ in good solubility in ethanol.
The white modification shows marked resistance to both thermal and chemical influences. It is susceptible to sunlight - during the irradiation process it begins to darken, and mercury is formed in the surface layers.
The burning rate is about 15.5 mm / s. There is an active reaction of explosive mercury with magnesium or aluminum, especially in the presence of moisture. This can cause an explosion. In this regard, contact of explosive mercury and these metals should not be allowed.
In dry form, the compound shows a rather slow reaction with copper, silver, cadmium. Regardless of the condition (wet or dry) does not interact with steel or iron.
Upon impact, the compound decomposes without exploding. In humidity conditions, about thirty percent completely loses sensitivity. At temperatures over fifty degrees, the slow decomposition of explosive mercury begins. This occurs even in dry conditions. At a temperature of 90-95 degrees in a few days, the compound decomposes completely. In this case, a yellow non-explosive substance is formed. When 10% ethylcentralite is added to the compound, the compound is stable at temperatures up to eighty degrees.
Burning in charges pressed loosely passes into detonation. Significant compaction of the compound contributes to the loss of properties of the initiating explosive. The detonation velocity is 2300 m / s, if the density is 1.25 g / cm3. The heat of the explosion is 1.79 MJ / kg. The volume of detonation products is 315 l / kg.
Pressing into detonator capsules is carried out under a pressure of 250-300 kg / cm2.