Peroxide is a relatively safe substance when handled properly.

You might have a problem obtaining the highest concentration products, since the vast majority of industrial production is geared to lower concentrations, for use in commercial pulp & paper plants. They buy the stuff by the train car load -- so I doubt you would be able to buy just a few gallons -- except perhaps from a lab chemicals supplier (surface shipment only, I'm sure)

But the highest commercial grade would certainly be useful in model rocketry :  I seem to recall that the ROTON project used 70% peroxide to test their rocket-tip-driven rotor.....  Of course you could boost the performance of your rocket by running the exhaust through a hybrid rocket engine, like some of the X-prise competitors (using asphalt in the fuel block)

A little over a decade ago I worked on an engineering project for Chemprox, a hydrogen peroxide producer here in Quebec, in the Becancour industrial park across the river from Trois Rivieres. Chemprox is one of a small number of large-scale hydrogen peroxide manufacturers in North America.

Most of their product is 30% and 50% concentrated H2O2, but they also produce some 70% H2O2 (all of which is way more than your household 5% H2O2).

I recall being told that the peroxide is largely sold to pulp & paper companies who are switching from chlorine to peroxide bleach (I also worked on another project at next-door ICI's chlorine production plant, but that's another story....). While the use of peroxide in paper making may eliminate dioxin byproducts, the production of hydrogen peroxide itself involves the use of large amounts of anthraquinone, which is a toxic chemical. But even then, I already heard that some companies were attempting to implement a "non-chemical," direct electro-chemical production process for H2O2. No idea how wide-spread that novel process has become today, if at all.

Anyhow, high-test peroxide (HTP) is amazing stuff, as I recall from a safety demonstration at the plant.

The technician poured a small amount of 70% H2O2 into a leather glove, in order to illustrate his point about why one should avoid using anything but plastic gloves at the plant.

After a few seconds on the ground, the glove begun to smoulder and quickly caught fire.

The impressive part though, was when the fire quickly turned into a blast of flames like those from a welding blowtorch. There was virtually nothing left of the glove.

Definitely not something you'd want to have on your hands !

Being familiar with the use of peroxide for rocket propulsion - both as monopropellant catalyzed by silver, and in combination with a hydrocarbon fuel - I was expecting to see something impressive (rockets use 99%-plus H2O2).

But nothing beats seeing such a demonstration first hand.

And of course I took note of the startled reaction of my other colleagues, who had no knowledge of the rocket applications of peroxide....

Regards,

Jaro