Elemental Carbon for Black Powder????

[Grapes Of Wraith]

I am experimenting with black powder made from elemental carbon instead of charcoal.

once I get this mixture right it will be better than black powder because charcoal is 80-98% carbon, pure carbon should work better (meaning burn faster) right?

[The_Duke]

That will not work...

The “carbon” for the manufacture of black powder needs to contain a certain amount of “volatiles” and needs to be in an amorphous state for the powder to perform at it’s best, but that’s not to mention the practical aspects of manufacture such as incorporation, milling, pressing, corning, etc.

I suggest you do some more research because its much more complicated than you fail to realize :rolleyes:

[Grapes Of Wraith]

Maybe you have it confused I am not trying to make black powder I can already do that well I am looking for something else that is new.


I always try new things when I make it so I am not disappointed that this idea has failed. although this powder has some interesting properties.....
this is what I thought:
C + KNO₃ -------> CO_x
I thought this would be a short cut for oxidizing charcoal but I guess it needs these "volatiles" to help trigger the reaction, because I noticed that it would burn and fizz and shoot an almost white bluish flame but required high heat to initiate. I tried melting it and then lighting it and it exploded like yellow powder with sufficient force for the amount in which I used. So either I have failed to realize how complex the reaction between oxygen and charcoal and many other fuels is, or this is something to look into I am not sure.

[Bluebanshee]

This is the same issue I had when I tried to use barbecue grade charcoal to make black powder, I figured that buying a large bag of it from a hardware store was an easy way to get it in bulk.... WRONG.

Barbecue charcoal turned out to be almost useless for black powder making, (it does burn but painfully slowly) I found out later from reading up on old techniques for manufacturing gunpowder that this is due to the fact that you need volatiles in it.

The best powder is made from charcoal that has been made under relatively low temperatures and has been starved of oxygen during the carbonisation. furthurmore, apparently the best gunpowder used to be made from willow charcoal for some reason.

A rule of thumb I came up with, was that if you can still just about feel the fibrous grain structure from the original wood in the charcoal then its just about right, if not then its overly carbonised.

Making quality black powder is more of an art than a science, and the combustion reaction is a hell of a lot more complicated than oxidation of the carbon and sulphur by the nitrate.