Barium azide is an inorganic
azide with the formula . It is a
barium
Barium is a chemical element with the symbol Ba and atomic number 56. It is the fifth element in group 2 and is a soft, silvery alkaline earth metal. Because of its high chemical reactivity, barium is never found in nature as a free element.
Th ...
salt of
hydrazoic acid. Like most azides, it is explosive. It is less sensitive to mechanical shock than
lead azide
Lead(II) azide is an inorganic compound. More so than other azides, is explosive. It is used in detonators to initiate secondary explosives. In a commercially usable form, it is a white to buff powder.
Preparation and handling
Lead(II) azide i ...
.
Preparation
Barium azide may be prepared by reacting
sodium azide with a soluble barium salt. Care should be taken to prevent large crystals from forming in the solution as barium azide crystals will explode if subjected to friction/shock or if fully dried. The product should be stored submerged in
ethanol
Ethanol (abbr. EtOH; also called ethyl alcohol, grain alcohol, drinking alcohol, or simply alcohol) is an organic compound. It is an alcohol with the chemical formula . Its formula can be also written as or (an ethyl group linked to a ...
.
Uses
Barium azide can be used to make azides of
magnesium
Magnesium is a chemical element with the symbol Mg and atomic number 12. It is a shiny gray metal having a low density, low melting point and high chemical reactivity. Like the other alkaline earth metals (group 2 of the periodic ...
,
sodium
Sodium is a chemical element with the symbol Na (from Latin ''natrium'') and atomic number 11. It is a soft, silvery-white, highly reactive metal. Sodium is an alkali metal, being in group 1 of the periodic table. Its only stable ...
,
potassium
Potassium is the chemical element with the symbol K (from Neo-Latin '' kalium'') and atomic number19. Potassium is a silvery-white metal that is soft enough to be cut with a knife with little force. Potassium metal reacts rapidly with atmos ...
,
lithium
Lithium (from el, λίθος, lithos, lit=stone) is a chemical element with the symbol Li and atomic number 3. It is a soft, silvery-white alkali metal. Under standard conditions, it is the least dense metal and the least dense soli ...
,
rubidium and
zinc
Zinc is a chemical element with the symbol Zn and atomic number 30. Zinc is a slightly brittle metal at room temperature and has a shiny-greyish appearance when oxidation is removed. It is the first element in group 12 (IIB) of the periodi ...
with their respective sulfates.
:
It can also be used as a source for high pure nitrogen by heating:
:
This reaction liberates metallic barium, which is used as a
getter in vacuum applications.
See also
*
Hydrazoic acid
References
{{Azides
Azides
Barium compounds
Explosive chemicals
Inorganic compounds