Thread: Is it dangerous to have aluminum powder?

I have been reading up on thermite and the required ingredients. I have extremely fine aluminum powder from a small etch-a-sketch sitting on plastic wrap in my room. On the comments page of the site i got the thermite ingredients from, multiple people said that thermite could explose if you use too fine of a powder. I have also read that powdered aluminum can become very explosive when it is exposed to air or if it becomes damp. Ive gotten particulary worried because the humidity right now is 93%. So, is powdered aluminum too dangerous to have in house and is too fine powdered aluminum explosive when in thermite?

Decreasing the particle size will increase the chance of water causing spontaneous heating.

Did you do any research before working with dangerous materials?

And topping tonights evening news, A young person playing with dangerous compounds that they had no training in the use of, has blown themselves into itty bitty squishy bits.

Bluskyz, Please accept this darwin award.

Originally Posted by Bluskyz

I have been reading up on thermite and the required ingredients. I have extremely fine aluminum powder from a small etch-a-sketch sitting on plastic wrap in my room. On the comments page of the site i got the thermite ingredients from, multiple people said that thermite could explose if you use too fine of a powder. I have also read that powdered aluminum can become very explosive when it is exposed to air or if it becomes damp. Ive gotten particulary worried because the humidity right now is 93%. So, is powdered aluminum too dangerous to have in house and is too fine powdered aluminum explosive when in thermite?

It's very explosive, like gun powder basically. I don't think you can injure yourself with amounts less than a gram unless it blows up in your eyes, but, just know it's very dangerous. When it's wet it releases gaseous hydrogen and forms aluminum oxide but if your particle size is micro sized and not nano-sized, the reaction might stop early due to the formation of a protective oxide layer. This reaction with water is not that dangerous with micro sized particles, I have personally done it 100s of times, the powder basically burns into a boiling black goo releasing hydrogen. It looks very similar to when you add HCl to aluminum scrap, it's a runaway reaction. Unless you do that with amounts larger than a pound, there won't be enough hydrogen accumulation in order to blow up a 250 square foot room but be safe, still.

Storage...I would store it just like LiAlH4 basically, it's actually not that different from LiAlH4, in a tightly closed HDPE (plastic (2) code) vial (avoid using glass vials, dangerous) inside of a larger vial containing silica gel or preferably magnesium sulfate, or sodium sulfate, anything that removes water basically.

Why in heaven's name do you want to make thermite?

Originally Posted by KALSTER

Why in heaven's name do you want to make thermite?

For the love of science I guess lol. I remember when I was a kid in high-school, there was this electrochemistry experiment where we had to make a potassium permanganate solution and measure conductivity. Well, when the teacher wasn't looking I instead mixed concentrated sulfuric acid with potassium permanganate power enough to fill a 20mL vial, then poured that green, extremely corrosive, shock sensitive explosive and health hazardous oil into a bag of chips under the fume-hood. After the fireball, there was nothing left but beautiful violet flakes of KMnO4 gently falling down, like snow. I got kicked out for 2 weeks, extra vacation, they still have no idea wtf I mixed, I didn't tell them haha. I knew I had to be a chemist! Lol.

That demonstrates well that one shouldn't play with volatile compounds without proper training!

It's all fun and games, until someone winds up with severe burns or dies.

Originally Posted by KALSTER

That demonstrates well that one shouldn't play with volatile compounds without proper training!

It's all fun and games, until someone winds up with severe burns or dies.

That's actually one of the very few compounds known that instantly sets human skin on fire upon contact, with a single oil drop being able to cause penetrative burns 1/4th of an inch deep within less than a second of exposure. This was tried on a chicken wing but I doubt anyone's hand could do much better. Nitrile gloves are able to withstand for 10-30 seconds. That's definitely 2 things you must not mix in amounts larger than 2mL ^_^

You are well aware that aluminium powder is the unstable solid rocket fuel nasa uses right? And whatdafuq did you do to create purple snow... I created a toxic cloud once. HCl, water and .. Well A nitrilous compound, no idea which one, it turned into a blue cloud. But it was an accident. Some jackass switched beakers with me. I ran for my life that day...

Originally Posted by Zwolver

You are well aware that aluminium powder is the unstable solid rocket fuel nasa uses right? And whatdafuq did you do to create purple snow... I created a toxic cloud once. HCl, water and .. Well A nitrilous compound, no idea which one, it turned into a blue cloud. But it was an accident. Some jackass switched beakers with me. I ran for my life that day...

Looked a bit like this, on a larger scale except that my flakes were purple lol:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-hJEtT_9y2o

hmm, interesting. Eiter small explosions, or the forming of dust out of gasses..

Originally Posted by Oxycodone

Originally Posted by KALSTER

Why in heaven's name do you want to make thermite?

For the love of science I guess lol. I remember when I was a kid in high-school, there was this electrochemistry experiment where we had to make a potassium permanganate solution and measure conductivity. Well, when the teacher wasn't looking I instead mixed concentrated sulfuric acid with potassium permanganate power enough to fill a 20mL vial, then poured that green, extremely corrosive, shock sensitive explosive and health hazardous oil into a bag of chips under the fume-hood. After the fireball, there was nothing left but beautiful violet flakes of KMnO4 gently falling down, like snow. I got kicked out for 2 weeks, extra vacation, they still have no idea wtf I mixed, I didn't tell them haha. I knew I had to be a chemist! Lol.

Please change your forum name to "Deathwish". Hopefully, you'll never get your hands on plutonium!

As far as i know, plutonium does not grow on trees. Anthrax however, does..

3 KClO4 + 8 Al → 4 Al2O3 + 3 KCl

I have a gallon can of aluminum powder sitting on a shelf in the paint and chemical area of my studio.
I use it for patinas
no problems so far
20+ years and counting

shades of Alfred E Newman
"What, me worry?

I keep a few ounces of powered aluminum in my chemical storage as well. It is perfectly safe as long as you are carefull with it... Just like any chemical if you fail to respect it you will suffer consequences. I do not however condone the creation of potentially lethal compounds by rank amatures with no training. People like that give those who have the training and the love of experimentation a bad name.

Just don't mix mercury with iodomethane and leave it hanging in the sun.

why?

It produces something like methyl mercuriciodide, which, I'm guessing, is highly toxic?

List off

List off

Why, By all that anyone holds holy, would you put a list like this up where KIDS could find it. This is not an adults only forum and you are posting information that has the potential to cause serious harm. Are you retarded?

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