More powerful Chlorates?

[Shalashaska]

While I was on Wikipedia poking around various explosive precursor files, I came across Rubidium Nitrate as a cation of KNO3.

This interested me enough to do a search for Rubidium Chlorate, for which there was no file, but there was a file on Rubidium PERchlorate.

I did some Google searches, and it turns out some rubidium chlorate is on eBay for $25 for 5 grams. Even though this would be completely financially infeasible, would Rubidium Chlorate, Caesium Chlorate, or even (impossibly) Francium Chlorate theoretically be much more powerful oxidizers than KClO3 or NaClO3, since there is a difference in power between the former and latter?

[Ygarl]

Never occurred to try elements farther down the chart. I'm not convinced that Francium would be a good choice as fooling with radioactive ingredients which are also explosive chemically is more than a little worrying.

Of course getting it could be a more serious problem. It's usually only found as a decay product of another element

A runaway reaction of 5 grams of KNO3 + [X] may be somewhat dangerous, but Fr has a half-life of something like 22 minutes in its most stable isotope. It decays via alpha and beta particles and at that half-life must be SERIOUSLY radioactive.

Cs could be fun though... I have seen the classic Na + water reaction any number of times of course, as well as K and Rb. Only had one chemistry teacher hard-core enough to mess with pure Cs, and something like .05g of Cs can easily destroy a 5 litre plastic tank of water - no worries.

I'm better on the physics side personally. Anyone sharp enough at the chem side to work out the theoretical energy budget of CsNO3 (I assume...) used as an ingredient in a simple explosive?

CsCl looks entertaining as well... Wonder if it can be used as a precursor to nerve agents.

[nbk2000]

Francium is impossible to get.

Cesium is obtainable, but the cost...

Selenium has been used to make analogs of VX, replacing the sulfur, and increasing toxicity by a third.

[crazynlazy]

Well, in answer to your question, yes, by moving down the periodic table you get to heavier elements. However, there are better choices than rubidium.


If by "more powerful oxidizers," you mean a more explosive compound involving a chlorate bonded to a metal, there are much better choices than those from the alkali earth metals group. If you look at potassium chlorate there are two reasons for the stability of the compound. Firstly, potassium is a relatively light metal. Secondly, potassium makes close and strong bonds, it being one of the least electronegative elements.


If you want a chlorate that is more energetic than the conventional potassium and sodium compounds, simply choose an element more electronegative as well as heavier than potassium. Silver comes to mind given its weight and relative ease in obtaining. Iron and copper would probably form interesting and powerful oxidizers to a lesser degree as well. I am interested to hear more about this topic, what does everybody else think?

[sdjsdj]

Wouldn't using a radioactive chlorate in HE lead to instant and - if the device were large - widespread fallout?

There still exists the problem of obtaining the stuff in the first place, though, which seems fairly daunting. For prospective homicidal psychotics with a taste for the dramatic and a death wish, that is.

[Flaire]

The chlorates and perchlorates bonded to a metal like Chromium (appears it would have to be Chromium III for Chlorate) or Manganese Chlorate might have some interesting oxidizing potentials. But Silver does seem better due to the availability...

[Lewis]

The heavier the metal, the more "ballast" the oxidizer must carry, all other things being equal. While the metal may be more reactive, there will always be more inert product with a heavier element.

I'm not sure why no one has pointed this out...

[Cobalt.45]

I'm not sure why no one has pointed this out...One reason might be that this has been a dead thread for the past year and a half- and for good reason, it would seem.