soma - 28-12-2010 at 04:03
We recently got a Thomas (uni-melt) melting point apparatus. The manual says to only use the silicone oil that they recommend (and sell).
It says to not use anything that can conduct electricity. I assume this is because of the heating element being submerged in the oil.
Anyone know how conductive refined vegetable oil is - or mineral oil - or any suggestions for a good substitute?
Thanks.
not_important - 28-12-2010 at 11:24
Vegetable oil is not a good choice, it is unsaturated and reaction with air turns it into a gummy mess. Besides that heating hot enough (~ 290 C)
produces acrolein which is an unpleasant compound to be around.
Mineral oil can top out around 150 C, silicon oils generally got to 200-300 C with some special ones going even higher. There's a list of heat bath
materials here http://www.ilpi.com/inorganic/glassware/heatsources.html.