Sciencemadness Discussion Board

Barium chlorate cell

Chemgineer - 11-6-2022 at 04:55

I've produced around 2 litres of saturated barium chloride solution by neutralising barium carbonate with HCL.

I have now set it up in a cell with an MMO anode and titanium cathode and so far i'm pushing 10amps through it.

I seem to be getting an insoluble layer at the bottom which i'm guessing might be residual barium carbonate which is sparingly soluble in water.

I'm planning to keep it running a few weeks and just keep topping it up with water then eventually allow it to evaporate and hopefully get some long barium chlorate crystals.

mysteriusbhoice - 11-6-2022 at 06:05

careful of any sulfate contamination as barium sulfate is known to fuck up MMO temporarily and soon long term if it builds up on the anode.
blinding deposits are removed by running the anode in acidic medium with high chloride.

Jome - 11-6-2022 at 22:28

If you get an insoluble layer, might that not be Ba(OH)2 from the bath going alkaline, since some Cl2 will inevitably be evolved?

Chemgineer - 23-6-2022 at 13:05

This is progressing well, after 8 days of electrolysis i've poured it into a wide dish to evaporate and j'm getting good barium chlorate which oxidises sugar in a bright green flame.

A really interesting thing is i'm seeing Triboluminescence and blue electrical flashes in the solution as crystals drop out of solution and then when I break them apart later I see blue flashes again!

woelen - 24-6-2022 at 07:17

Very interesting effect. I have some Ba(ClO3)2 and will try whether I can reproduce the triboluminiscence by dissolving some in hot watert and then letting it crystallize on cooling down.

Be careful with Ba(ClO3)2 in pyrotechnics experiments. Mixes with it are really sensitive. I understood that these mixes are even more sensitive than mixes with KClO3 and unexpected ignition can occur very easily with most reductors!