Open Access

Dennis A. Michalski, Claudia Wickleder, Peter M. Kaul

• Due to the toxicity and negative environmental impact of lead- and chromate(IV and VI)-based delay compositions, alternative substance mixtures are required to be investigated as possible substitutes for pyrotechnic materials. Therefore, the Mg/ CaO2 and Mg/Li2O2 delay compositions were subject of this work. These mixtures were processed into pellets with the aid of the dry binders HPMC, MgSt, PEG1, PEG2 and PVP and used in delay elements. The binder content used for all the composition was 5 wt%. Burning rates were investigated while taking the influence of oxidizer particle size and the effect of different binders into account. The results show that the combustion rate can be adjusted both via the grain size and by means of the various binders. Further, the impact of the different binders on the ignition temperature of the Mg/Li2O2 and Mg/CaO2 compositions was measured. The compositions were also classified as insensitive to impact and friction. However, during preparation of delay pallets, unintended ignition of pellets occurred while using the HPMC, PEG1, PEG2 and PVP binders. For this reason, safety measures should be followed and special care should be taken while preparing delay pellets. While the peroxides could be identified with Raman spectroscopy, no peroxide residue was found in the reaction products of both peroxide magnesia mixtures.