Sciencemadness Discussion Board

Experiments with liqid nitrogen dioxide

its me! - 23-8-2019 at 10:34

Iam planning on making some liqid nitrogen dioxide, and i want to ask, what can i do with it? I know that it can be used as oxidizer, but i dont know much more...

Sulaiman - 23-8-2019 at 10:46

From the Wikipedia nitrogen dioxide page;


As suggested by the weakness of the N–O bond, NO2 is a good oxidizer.
Consequently, it will combust, sometimes explosively, with many compounds, such as hydrocarbons.

Take care ....

Tsjerk - 23-8-2019 at 10:53

Seal it in a strong glass tube. NO2 is red, but at lower temperatures it forms N2O4 which is blue, and visa versa.

Metacelsus - 23-8-2019 at 14:10

The blue comes from N2O3; pure N2O4 is colorless.

unionised - 23-8-2019 at 16:40

When wiki has a whole page devoted to the toxicity of a material
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nitrogen_dioxide_poisoning

you need a really good reason to make it.

BromicAcid - 23-8-2019 at 17:43

First time I ever tried to make nitric acid ended up collecting nitrogen dioxide instead. Thought it was red fuming acid even though I couldn't see though it. Would add it to water and it would spin around on the surface in droplets and little tendrils would spin out around it. Very interesting to watch. Didn't take long to figure out I didn't make nitric acid.

DraconicAcid - 23-8-2019 at 17:54

NO2 can't be liquified- it dimerizes first.

BromicAcid - 23-8-2019 at 19:34

Sure, it's an equilibrium reaction between the dimer and the monomer - but there is certainly monomer present. Classic P-Chem experiment was to track the equilibrium from dry ice temps up to room temp based on color.

[Edited on 8/24/2019 by BromicAcid]

DraconicAcid - 23-8-2019 at 19:51

Quote: Originally posted by BromicAcid  
Sure, it's an equilibrium reaction between the dimer and the monomer - but there is certainly monomer present. Classic P-Chem experiment was to track the equilibrium from dry ice temps up to room temp based on color.

[Edited on 8/24/2019 by BromicAcid]


We do the same eq'm at temp from 0 C to 60 C, and the colour practically vanishes before it liquifies. Perhaps your experiment was at a higher overall pressure.

hissingnoise - 24-8-2019 at 01:40

Quote: Originally posted by its me!  
Iam planning on making some liqid nitrogen dioxide, and i want to ask, what can i do with it? I know that it can be used as oxidizer, but i dont know much more...

What method will you use to produce NO2, if you don't mind me asking?


its me! - 24-8-2019 at 07:23

Quote: Originally posted by hissingnoise  
Quote: Originally posted by its me!  
Iam planning on making some liqid nitrogen dioxide, and i want to ask, what can i do with it? I know that it can be used as oxidizer, but i dont know much more...

What method will you use to produce NO2, if you don't mind me asking?



By reaction of copper and nitric acid

hissingnoise - 24-8-2019 at 12:58

How do propose liquefying the vapour ─ it boils at ~20°C?

And you're going to need a shitload of copper and NA...


its me! - 25-8-2019 at 01:43

Quote: Originally posted by hissingnoise  
How do propose liquefying the vapour ─ it boils at ~20°C?

And you're going to need a shitload of copper and NA...



iam planning to liqify it using ice(passing the gas throu ice cooled tube to ice cooled test tube), i have lots of useless copper wires, so copper is not a problem, and i wont be makink too much of it anyway... Do you have betther method ?

icelake - 25-8-2019 at 02:02

Take a look at this and be careful.

https://archive.org/download/ChemPlayer/Preparation%20of%20l...

hissingnoise - 25-8-2019 at 02:05

Check this out ─ it's long been the preferred method.


hissingnoise - 25-8-2019 at 02:53

The lead nitrate, NO2 prep. seems the simplest ─ less glassware...?

But excluding moisture is always a problem!


Sulaiman - 25-8-2019 at 07:17

I happened to watch this video earlier today, quite relevant
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HESOat2iPzU