Potassium perchlorate is usually safer than chlorate salt, but it sometimes is hard to get it. In the past, the only supplier in the US makes ammonium perchlorate, the oxidizer that was used with the space shuttle booster rockets, and each shuttle launch required 1.5 million pounds of it, which was twice the annual consumption rate, so when there were a lot of shuttle launches, the fireworks market took a hit and it was near impossible to get any potassium perchlorate.
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Fireworks also have finders, which hold the mixture together, usually dextrin (a kind of starch).
Binders aren’t stable and are usually added when the firework is ready to go.
Fireworks can have regulators (metals) added to control the speed of the reaction.
Reducing agents like sulfur and charcoal, are used to burn the oxygen and make the hot gases and control the reaction speed.
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