Nickel hydrazine nitrate
Nickel hydrazine nitrate , 3]2 is an energetic material having explosive
properties in between that of primary explosive and a secondary explosive. It is a salt of a coordination compound of nickel.
Preparation
NHN can be synthesized by reacting nickel(II) nitrate hexahydrate with a dilute aqueous solution of hydrazine monohydrate at 65 C.To help speed the drying of the product after filtration from the hot water, it can be rinsed with alcohol. The product is a fluffy powder. To increase its bulk density to, dextrin in the amount of of the weight of the nickel nitrate hexahydrate can be added.
Non-primary explosive detonator (NPED)
The sensitivity of NHN straddles the line between highly sensitive primaries and a sensitive secondary, so it can be considered a true non-primary explosive detonator.Another benefit of NHN is that it will make the DDT in a cardboard shell, eliminating the danger of shrapnel from a metal shell.
Safety
NHN straddles the line between primary and secondary. Because of this it is a relatively safe explosive to work with having 80x less sensitivity to friction than lead azide as shown in table 2.Friction sensitivities of some traditional explosives – 5.0 N;
tetrazene – 8.0 N; PETN – 60 N; RDX – 120 N; HMX – 120 N, show that NHN is not very sensitive, and is thereby not exceedingly hazardous in handling.
General and structural properties of nickel hydrazine nitrate
Source:| Molecular formula | Ni H12 N8 O6 |
| Formula weight | 278.69 |
| Color | Purple Violet |
| Crystal density | 2.1 |
| Average particle size | 13 |
| Nickel content | 21.16 a |
| Hydrazine content | 34.46 a |
| Nitrate content | 44.47 a |
| Nitrogen content in coordination sphere | 30.25 a |
| FTIR peaks, | 3238, 1630 ; 1356,1321 |
| Moisture content | 0.34 |
| Average mol wt of combustion products | 27.35 |
| Percent condensable Ni | 18 |
| Oxygen-fuel ratio | 0.8571 |
| Oxygen balance % | -5.74 |
a Values in brackets are theoretical