Barium peroxide Barium peroxide Barium peroxide is the inorganic compound with the formula BaO. This white solid (gray when impure) is one of the most common inorganic peroxides, and it was the first peroxide compound discovered. Being an oxidizer and giving a vivid green colour upon ignition (as do all barium compounds), it finds some use in fireworks; historically, it was also used as a precursor for hydrogen peroxide. Barium peroxide is a peroxide, containing subunits. The solid is isomorphous to calcium carbide, CaC. Barium peroxide arises by the reversible reaction of O with barium oxide. The peroxide forms around 500 °C
Barium Matthiessen obtained pure barium by electrolysis of a molten mixture of barium chloride and ammonium chloride. The production of pure oxygen in the Brin process was a large-scale application of barium peroxide in the 1880s, before it was replaced by electrolysis and fractional distillation of liquefied air in the early 1900s. In this process barium oxide reacts at with air to form barium peroxide, which decomposes above by releasing oxygen: Barium sulfate was first applied as a radiocontrast agent in X-ray imaging of the digestive system in 1908. The abundance of barium is 0.0425% in the Earth's crust and 13