Paris Green

[Cobalt.45]

Finally found a supply of Paris green (copper acetoarsenite) for making blue stars, salutes, lances, etc. while perusing some other pyro-related sites. PM for the address.

Here’s three good blue star formulas that use copper acetoarsenite:

Blue Weingart
Potassium Chlorate 48 parts
Paris Green 18
Barium Nitrate 16
Shellac 10
Dextrin 3
Best saturated blue color star that I've seen. Bind w/water.

Blue Lancaster
Potassium chlorate 70 %
Paris green 20
Shellac 10
Very nice blue star, burns fast with no residue. Bind w/alcohol.

Blue
Potassium chlorate 68 %
Paris green 22
Shellac 6
Dextrin 4
Also a very nice blue star, clean burning. Very close to Lancaster, above, except water bound. Don’t know the source.

Paris green is poisonous, educate yourself before using it.

The best blues are from KClO3, shellac and Paris green, IMO. But besides these comps there are MANY others that use copper salts/KClO3, KClO4 or ammonium perchlorate, w/o Paris green. These are sited in most every classic pyro tome ever written (Davis, Tenny, Shimizu, Lancaster, Weingart, et al).

[fluoroantimonic]

If anyone is interested in synthesizing their own US patent 2268123 gives good details. It looks pretty simple as long as you can get a source of arsenic to convert to arsinous acid.

I love blue pyrotechnics. I was thinking, a modified mix of the above ingredients would probably make a lovely blue tracer mix. If nothing else it would be original.

[Cobalt.45]

...as long as you can get a source of arsenic to convert to arsinous acid.You know, the shit used to be everywhere!

Every grocery, drug and hardware store carried it as insect and rodent poison. Now? I haven't seen an OTC source in many years.

Anyone know of a source, OTC? Might be useful in other ways as well, but for use as Paris green it would be pretty expensive- not that $25/lb. for PG isn't, mind you!

I have formulas for red, green, yellow and white tracers, IIRC- but no blue. Might be worth a try.

[ChippedHammer]

I take it your talking about our friend who sells MMO anodes?

[Cobalt.45]

I contacted him and was told that he didn't mind me posting the info.

https://www.bentspoonmaterials.com/ForSale.aspx

Usually, posting sources is verboten, but given the esoteric nature of this material it has no kewl attraction.

I have no personal affiliation w/the company.

[tapira1]

Hi,

As far as I can recall, PG (CI's Pigment 21) is a bright green (though blueish green varieties are also available) and highly poisonous powder made by reaction of copper sulfate and sodium arsenite in acetic acid. Please remember that for long time it has been suspected that Napoleon died from exposure to a related chemical (actually attacked by microorganisms to produce arsine), used for wall painting and protecting (Scheele's Green). The green powder is dissolved or suspended in some liquid medium and used mainly as an insecticide and to prevent trees from being attacked by plagues. Its use has been banned in many countries worldwide because it is not "biodegradable" and increases the As levels of the soil and -moreover- of the groundwater.
Therefore, potential sources of this chemical still are the garden-related stores (specially if they are old -as their owners do- and not located in big cities).

For an old but hopefully useful recipe, use this:
Dissolve 6 parts of copper sulfate in a small amount of hot water. In another vessel, boil 6 parts of arsenic trioxide with 8 parts of KOH or caustic soda, until dissolved; mix the solutions with gentle stirring; a very abundant precipitate of a dirty greenish yellow is formed. Add about 3 parts of AcOH to the precipitate (there should be a slight excess; smell the mixture). The precipitate will diminishe its bulk, and in a few hours a green solid will precipitate. This is the product. Decant from the floating liquor and wash.

Enjoy!!!

[fluoroantimonic]

Monosodium methyl arsenate is apparently a common herbicide on golf courses, etc. It is probably OTC and it might not be too hard to make arsinous acid from it. You'd have to be careful though..

[Bert]

This illustrates a common trend in pyrotechnic ingredients- That the field is of such a small scale compared to most other industries that very few items are produced strictly FOR pyrotechnic use, so that pyrotechnicians must find ingredients and materials allready in production for other industries and adapt them to their use. Paris green and hexachlorobenzene are recent examples of once common pyrotechnic ingredients that have become nearly unobtainable due to a change in other industries...