Processes for the Manufacture of Lead Azide

The requirements for a product which is both safer to handle, yet retains the power of the pure, dense material, led to the development of the various phlegmatized materials. Thus most of this section deals with the development and improvement of processes, based on such crystal-modifying agents as dextrin and carboxymethylcellulose. Much of the technical detail presented has not been 

The only nearly pure (99+%) form of lead azide used today in the United States is the so-called colloidal lead azide made by quickly mixing dilute solutions of lead and azide salts. Despite the information in reference [5], colloidal lead azide is neither colloidal in particle size (the specification [6] calls for an average of particle size of 5 pm) nor safer to handle, as this form of lead azide is particularly sensitive to electrostatic discharge. It is used in contact with bridge wires in electric detonators (sometimes applied by mixing with a lacquer binder). The process as developed commercially is a proprietary product, and only small amounts are made as needed. 

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