They are inexpensive to make, can be initiated by a safety fuse, and in case of a misfire, the oxygen evaporates quickly, rendering the charge quite safe in a short period of time.
The first large scale deployment took place in 1899 during the building of the Simplon Tunnel, in the form of cartridges filled with diatomaceous earth soaked with petroleum, or an absorbent cork charcoal, dipped in liquid oxygen immediately before use.
One of the disadvantages of oxyliquits is that, once mixed, they are sensitive to sparks, shock, and heat, in addition to reported cases of spontaneous ignition.
The explosive properties of these mixtures were discovered in Germany in 1895 by Prof. Carl von Linde, a developer of a successful machine for liquefaction of gases, who named them oxyliquits.
The same device was used in Andy Weir's novel The Martian and the movie adaptation to cause the intentional depressurization of a spaceship by blasting the airlock door.