Barium chlorate Barium chlorate Barium chlorate, Ba(ClO), is a white crystalline solid, the barium salt of chloric acid. It is an irritant and toxic, as are all soluble barium compounds. It is sometimes used in pyrotechnics to produce a green color. It also finds use in the production of chloric acid. Barium chlorate can be produced through a double replacement reaction between solutions of barium chloride and sodium chlorate: On concentrating and chilling the resulting mixture, barium chlorate precipitates. This is perhaps the most common preparation, exploiting the lower solubility of barium chlorate compared to sodium chlorate. The above method does result
Potassium chlorate chlorate can react with sulfuric acid to form a highly reactive solution of chloric acid and potassium sulfate: The solution so produced is sufficiently reactive that it spontaneously ignites if combustible material (sugar, paper, etc.) is present. In schools, molten potassium chlorate is used in the dramatic screaming jelly babies demonstration. In chemical labs it is used to oxidize HCl and release small amounts of gaseous chlorine. Insurgents in Afghanistan also use potassium chlorate extensively as a key component in the production of improvised explosive devices. When significant effort was made to reduce the availability of ammonium nitrate fertilizer in