shaheerniazi - 28-11-2013 at 04:53
I want to do electrolysis of Barium Nitrate in my school lab and I want to know its results. I may use the mains socket or use a 9 volt battery and a
graphite and carbon electrode. I think the result will be Barium Hydroxide and maybe either copper hydroxide or copper nitrate?
Galinstan - 28-11-2013 at 05:02
You can not use the mains socket for electrolysis as it is AC and way to high a voltage, using a 9v battery is probably still to high for this
electrolysis but will still work. you will only get copper hydroxide if you use a copper anode, and yes you will probably get Ba(OH)2
bismuthate - 28-11-2013 at 05:03
Graphite is carbon. Did you mean copper?
I believe it yields Ba(OH)2, but it's easier to heat the nitrate to decomposition and mix with water.
shaheerniazi - 28-11-2013 at 05:14
Wikipedia says it will decompose at 592 celsius which is its melting point to nitrogen dioxide, oxygen and barium oxide, though is there a way to
reduce it to pure barium?
bismuthate - 28-11-2013 at 05:24
Most likely heating its oxide with an alkali metal or magnesium.
By the way its not a melting point.
shaheerniazi - 28-11-2013 at 05:54
You mean like a thermite reaction?
bismuthate - 28-11-2013 at 06:00
Yes. I was also wondering if you could reduce Ba(OH)2 with Mg the same way you can with KOH.
BromicAcid - 28-11-2013 at 08:12
Interestingly enough I was just reading the Handbook of Rare Earth Metals and the section on barium last night. The book states that electrolysis of
barium chloride does not yield barium metal and chlorine but instead a subchloride. I was unable to find a more recent reference online for the
subchloride but could not find a contemporary mention of it aside from the new version of the book (published 2009) which slows up on Goggle Books.
This link says the same thing:
http://barium.atomistry.com/barium_subchloride.html
And mentions that it reacts with water to liberate hydrogen. Strange. The method of choice in the book was aluminothermic reduction followed by
vacuum distillation for many of the alkali earth metals. Reduction was also carried out with calcium. Electrolysis was done with a liquid cadmium
cathode. 
Nice
shaheerniazi - 28-11-2013 at 08:23
I wonder how a cadmium electrode(and that even liquid) will look like during
electrolysis? Though the link you gave has electrolysis of Barium chloride which can be made by boiling sodium chloride with barium nitrate, we are
talking about electrolysis of Barium nitrate, anyway it is informative Thanks I
think I will either make it in the lab if I get a chance or maybe they have barium chloride somewhere around.