Gelignite, also known as blasting gelatin, is an explosive material consisting of collodion-cotton (a type of nitrocellulose or gun cotton) dissolved in nitroglycerine and mixed with wood pulp and sodium or potassium nitrate. Its composition makes it easily moldable, and safe to handle without protection, as long as it is not near anything capable of detonating it. One of the cheapest explosives, it is mostly used for large-scale blasting in the construction and mining industries. Unlike gunpowder, it burns slowly and cannot explode without a detonator, so it can be stored safely. It was invented in 1875 by Alfred Nobel, who had earlier invented dynamite. Unlike dynamite, gelignite does not suffer from the dangerous problem of sweating, the leaking of unstable nitroglycerine from the solid matrix.

Explosives

Gelignita