Sciencemadness Discussion Board - Chemicals for crystal growing

you can substitute many other ions in for the Al3+ and get some crazy nice crystals eg Cr, V etc

Vanadium alums, you say? Interesting, I'll have to try that. Do you know if they're air stable? V<sup>3+</sup> can be a bit finicky with oxidation.

Another double salt that forms cool crystals is potassium antimony tartrate. I started a thread about it a while back. I should try recrystallizing some for larger crystals sometime.

crystal grower - 7-1-2016 at 02:13

Im going to grow sulfur crystals from toluene solution.
What do you think is the best technique?
Cooling the heated solution or slow vaporisation of the toluene ??

diddi - 7-1-2016 at 02:27

use xylenes instead.... very slow cooling works well. you get long crystals. if you seed it you can get the diamond shaped crystals

j_sum1 - 7-1-2016 at 02:36

Definitely cooling.
I suppose you could pull the toluene off with a vacuum. But the solubility is so temperature dependent that mere cooling makes them grow easily.

diddi - 7-1-2016 at 02:37

did you do anything special to make the ZnSO4 and FeSO4 ?

crystal grower - 7-1-2016 at 03:36

did you do anything special to make the ZnSO4 and FeSO4 ?

Sorry but i dont undersatand your question.
Did u mean how I made my compounds ??
I have znso4 bottle for years (I really dont know if I bought it or what

) but u can get it by zn+h2so4 reaction.
And I made my feso4 from pure99.99% electrolytic iron and diluted feso4.

crystal grower - 7-1-2016 at 03:39

use xylenes instead.... very slow cooling works well. you get long crystals. if you seed it you can get the diamond shaped crystals

Thanks for answer.
Btw. why do u think the xylene is better ??

[Edited on 7-1-2016 by crystal grower]

Eddygp - 7-1-2016 at 04:11

In organic chem, benzil actually has some rather nice crystals. Same for benzhydrol. However, organic crystals are quite complicated to grow satisfactorily compared to, say, CuSO4·5H2O or other inorganic ones. However, they can be beautiful in their own needly way.
Pro: benzil is yellow and not too difficult to grow for an organic crystal if you keep an eye on the temperature.

X-ray crystallography is a great way to justify your needs for beautiful single-crystal growth.

[Edited on 7-1-2016 by Eddygp]

DraconicAcid - 7-1-2016 at 09:24

If anyone grows crystals suitable for X-ray diffraction, I can get the structures done for a reasonable price.

diddi - 7-1-2016 at 11:26

did you do anything special to grow the crystals?
xylenes allow about double the amount of sulphur to be dissolved per litre.

unionised - 7-1-2016 at 12:35

you can substitute many other ions in for the Al3+ and get some crazy nice crystals eg Cr, V etc

There are two neat tricks you can do with alums. One is to make mixed crystals (for example nice violet mixtures of chrome and aluminium alums.
The other is to grow different layers on top of eachother. If I remember I will try to find/ take some pictures.

DraconicAcid - 7-1-2016 at 12:44

Ammonium magnesium sulphate is similar- you can dope the crystals with other divalent cations (nickel works really well) to get nicely coloured crystals.

crystal grower - 7-1-2016 at 13:36

did you do anything special to grow the crystals?
xylenes allow about double the amount of sulphur to be dissolved per litre.

Every chemical is different but in general the purity of each chemical is crucial . temperature also affect the shape of the crystals.
But frankly I dont have equipment I'd wish to have

, so I must improvise from time to time.

[Edited on 7-1-2016 by crystal grower]

Whatknot - 8-1-2016 at 11:10

I too have also grown crystals, mainly from aqueous solutions, and have had both good and bad results.

On the good side, sodium ferrocyanide is relatively easy, inexpensive, and aside from the name, relatively non-toxic. Just do not add strong acids!

The crystals are a golden yellow, really sharp to look at.

On the bad side, my crystal growing experience revealed to me that ambient temperatures can make or break a growing crystal... I was doing the "hang a seed crystal in a jar of solution" method with alum, and after a few days I had a beautiful, 2cm clear octahedron... only to partially re-dissolve the next day after the temperature went up.

A controlled environment would be helpful.

crystal grower - 9-1-2016 at 11:06

Quote: Originally posted by Whatknot

I too have also grown crystals, mainly from aqueous solutions, and have had both good and bad results.

On the good side, sodium ferrocyanide is relatively easy, inexpensive, and aside from the name, relatively non-toxic. Just do not add strong acids!

The crystals are a golden yellow, really sharp to look at.

On the bad side, my crystal growing experience revealed to me that ambient temperatures can make or break a growing crystal... I was doing the "hang a seed crystal in a jar of solution" method with alum, and after a few days I had a beautiful, 2cm clear octahedron... only to partially re-dissolve the next day after the temperature went up.

A controlled environment would be helpful.

Thats really dissapointing man.
Good luck fenceforth

Velzee - 10-1-2016 at 10:55

Chevreul's salt, anyone? xD
By the way; those are some beautiful photos!

[Edited on 1/10/2016 by Velzee]

[Edited on 1/10/2016 by Velzee]

crystal grower - 10-1-2016 at 11:36

Chevreul's salt, anyone? xD
By the way; those are some beautiful photos!

[Edited on 1/10/2016 by Velzee]

[Edited on 1/10/2016 by Velzee]

Chevreul's salt is almost top secret

u cant even find it on wikipedia.
I'd like to growCu3(SO3)2 crystals too but i dont have sodium metabisulfite to prepare chevrls salt.
Do you know where could I buy it ??

DraconicAcid - 10-1-2016 at 11:48

Any stores around that sell wine- or beer- making equipment?

crystal grower - 10-1-2016 at 13:09

Any stores around that sell wine- or beer- making equipment?

Oh , what a shame

, my dad used to make vine at one time.
I must ask him about it.

TheChemiKid - 10-1-2016 at 15:11

Phenol/Salicylic Acid Reflux crystals are very cool.
Here's a video

crystal grower - 11-1-2016 at 07:24

Quote: Originally posted by TheChemiKid

Phenol/Salicylic Acid Reflux crystals are very cool.
Here's a video

Nice videon.
Wondering if it is possible to grow some large freestanding phenol crystals

XeonTheMGPony - 14-1-2016 at 11:38

Hello, These where not produced for the sake of growing crystals but non the less the process yielded some lovely pure crystals of the sugar alcohol Erythritol.

Process here: http://www.sciencemadness.org/talk/viewthread.php?tid=26679

Now these crystals came from the tailings of this process that I had saved to use in my cooking, The mother liquor was poured back into the container and placed in the fridge (Its composition would be weak stevia extract and Erythritol mix, being the erythritol having a higher concentration)

When I went to add the wash water to the liquor I found these beautiful diamond shaped crystals in it!

Feed stock was Truvia, Erythritol/Stevia extract Sugar substitute.

Purifide Erythritol crystals-Size 01.jpg - 154kB

Purifide Erythritol crystals-Size 02.jpg - 123kB

crystal grower - 17-1-2016 at 04:54

Kalso4.11h2o
-it isnt perfect crystal because it has grown only in 1week.

image sharing

Velzee - 18-1-2016 at 14:37

Crystal grower, how did you manage to grow NaHCO3 crystals?

aga - 19-1-2016 at 06:34

Potassium nitrate is easy and gives nice looking crystals.

crystal grower - 19-1-2016 at 08:07

Crystal grower, how did you manage to grow NaHCO3 crystals?

I didnt put much effort in it at all.
I dissolved soda in hot distilled water and then just lt it cool down.
When the sollution was cold there was no crystals in the container -I was thinking that the sollution wasnt saturated enough. But in fact it was supersaturated and when I shaked with container a little, crystals started suddenly growing.
Im going to do some more precious procedure to make better crystals in the future.

crystal grower - 19-1-2016 at 08:08

Quote: Originally posted by aga

Potassium nitrate is easy and gives nice looking crystals.

They are really cool.
Are they made only by cooling the solution?

aga - 19-1-2016 at 10:08

Yep.

Dissolve the pot nitrate in just enough hot water to dissolve it, then wait for it to cool down.

Simple as that.

unionised - 19-1-2016 at 13:18

Crystal grower, how did you manage to grow NaHCO3 crystals?

Did you check if it was bicarbonate or if it had decomposed to carbonate?

crystal grower - 20-1-2016 at 05:53

Quote: Originally posted by unionised

Crystal grower, how did you manage to grow NaHCO3 crystals?

Did you check if it was bicarbonate or if it had decomposed to carbonate?

It is still bicarbonate according to ph test.
To be exact the water was only warm, not very hot.

crystal grower - 20-1-2016 at 06:14

blue vitriol crystal grown in 2weeks.

Just wondering for what price it could be sold, any ideas??
(I would tell the buyer that its manmade of course).

[Edit] Removed image hosting advertisement

[Edited on 1-20-2016 by zts16]

Velzee - 20-1-2016 at 15:02

blue vitriol crystal grown in 2weeks.

http://postimg.org/image/5e22sg25r/full/

http://postimg.org/image/gp4qgt90v/full/

free image hosting
Just wondering for what price it could be sold, any ideas??
(I would tell the buyer that its manmade of course).

I would say that the price would depend on the buyer, honestly. Perhaps an auction would do(I think of eBay)?

Bot0nist - 20-1-2016 at 15:13

Copper sulfate growing on a piece of copper pipe after its reaction with a warm mix of hydrogen peroxide and sulfuric acid. Original pic and write in the pretty pictures thread. Love the crystals everyone. Keep up the good work.More (new crystals) to come from me soon.

Piperine extracted from black pepper with isopropyl alcohol.

[Edited on 20-1-2016 by Bot0nist]

The Volatile Chemist - 20-1-2016 at 18:15

Sodium citrate grows awesome crystals, sort-of hemispherical clusters. Also, Copper(II) Phthalate grows nice deep-blue needle-like crystals, but I haven't gotten them to grow very large. I got Barium potassium ferrocyanide to grow in granular-size crystals, which were not reported in any of the books I've found online. They indicate that needle-like rhombohedra form.

crystal grower - 21-1-2016 at 05:38

Quote: Originally posted by Bot0nist

Copper sulfate growing on a piece of copper pipe after its reaction with a warm mix of hydrogen peroxide and sulfuric acid. Original pic and write in the pretty pictures thread. Love the crystals everyone. Keep up the good work.More (new crystals) to come from me soon.

Piperine extracted from black pepper with isopropyl alcohol.

[Edited on 20-1-2016 by Bot0nist]

Your piperine crystals look very interesting .
Thanks for posting it here and Im looking forward to your other pics.

The Volatile Chemist - 21-1-2016 at 07:10

I always loved the copper(II) sulfate-on-a-pipe crystals, almost worth saving as 'art' in my opinion.

crystal grower - 21-1-2016 at 08:05

Here is an interesting guide for growing sodium chloride crystals
http://dmishin.blogspot.sk/2014/08/crystal-growing-table-sal...

[Edited on 21-1-2016 by crystal grower]

Bot0nist - 21-1-2016 at 08:35

Thanks for the kind words. Here is my write up describing the extraction and recrystallization of the piperine, if you are interested.

crystal grower - 21-1-2016 at 08:56

Quote: Originally posted by Bot0nist

Thanks for the kind words. Here is my write up describing the extraction and recrystallization of the piperine, if you are interested.

So my plan is :
Buy IPA
Destroy some pepper

I will certainly try it when I will have time.

crystal grower - 23-1-2016 at 10:18

my first k2cr2o7 crystals.

Im going to grow monocrystal in the near future.

Velzee - 23-1-2016 at 10:58

my first k2cr2o7 crystals.
http://postimg.org/image/4pqz8638v/full/

http://postimg.org/image/rd68ebisv/full/

Im going to grow monocrystal in the near future.

Oh my gosh; they're so pretty!

crystal grower - 24-1-2016 at 12:22

Oh my gosh; they're so pretty!

Yep, I love that awesome orange color

crystal grower - 24-1-2016 at 12:29

Have anyone experience with growing crystals in gel?
I'd be very thankful for any information.

crystal grower - 24-1-2016 at 12:38

Sodium citrate grows awesome crystals, sort-of hemispherical clusters. Also, Copper(II) Phthalate grows nice deep-blue needle-like crystals, but I haven't gotten them to grow very large. I got Barium potassium ferrocyanide to grow in granular-size crystals, which were not reported in any of the books I've found online. They indicate that needle-like rhombohedra form.

Could you post some pics please?
Anyway thanks for interesting tips.

Praseodymium sulphate

nezza - 26-1-2016 at 00:57

This is a small crystal of praseodymium sulphate (About 7-8mm long). It appeared slowly (several months) in a solution of the sulphate I made some time ago.

crystal grower - 26-1-2016 at 03:14

Quote: Originally posted by nezza

This is a small crystal of praseodymium sulphate (About 7-8mm long). It appeared slowly (several months) in a solution of the sulphate I made some time ago.

Really nice. Thanks for posting it here.

aga - 26-1-2016 at 13:52

Quote: Originally posted by nezza

... small crystal of praseodymium sulphate ...

Biggest i've ever seen !

Could you please post the process by which you arrived at that crystal nezza ?

The Volatile Chemist - 28-1-2016 at 08:46

Have anyone experience with growing crystals in gel?
I'd be very thankful for any information.

I've done this, one must add an organic acid (weak acetic) to a solution containing one reactant and Silica gel. When this hardens, add the second reactant on top and allow to sit until crystallization occurs. One of the products must be less water-soluble than the reactants to crystallize. Done this w/ copper, lead, Copper(II) hydrogen phthalate, and PbI.

Could you post some pics please?
Anyway thanks for interesting tips.

U2U me if you get a chance, I can tonight, but will probably forget if you don't.

crystal grower - 28-1-2016 at 10:28

Thanks for answer.
Looking forward to the pics

The Volatile Chemist - 28-1-2016 at 13:31

Na₃Cit with some NaOH solution sort-of still around (on them). Except for this, they'd be 'dry' crystals.
These are broken up from their original size (as they formed). They're lying on a blue, transparent clip-board.

chemrox - 28-1-2016 at 17:06

I had a TA that grew a 30# crystal of CuSO4.5H2O in a bathtub. She shaved the dislocations off periodically. Made one big crystal.

nezza - 29-1-2016 at 02:30

aga. I did not grow the praseodymium sulphate crystal deliberately. It crystallised out of a saturated solution of praseodymium sulphate I had made by dissolving the metal in dilute sulphuric acid. The solution had been standing for some months and presumably had evaporated somewhat.

crystal grower - 29-1-2016 at 03:24

Na₃Cit with some NaOH solution sort-of still around (on them). Except for this, they'd be 'dry' crystals.
These are broken up from their original size (as they formed). They're lying on a blue, transparent clip-board.

Is that natural color of sodium citrate?

Its pity that NaOH was in excess.
Anyway nice crystals

Sodium bisulfate

crystal grower - 31-1-2016 at 01:17

I had nothing to do yesterday so I decided to grow some new crystals to my collection.

NaHSO4.H2O crystals (prismatic crystals remind me my skoryle - second photo.)

Btw. I've become "hazard to self"

.

[Edited on 31-1-2016 by crystal grower]

Dmishin - 3-2-2016 at 14:44

Oh, crystals! I am sorry in advance for picture-loaded post. So, here is a part of my humble collection.

Glucose-NaCl-water cocrystal, 2:1:1 molar ratio

NH4Fe(SO4)2 12H2O and KAl(SO4)2 12H2O

K2Mg(SO4)2 6H2O

(NH4)2Zn(SO4)2 6H2O

K2SO4

Potassium tris-oxalato aluminate. K3 [Al(C2O4)3]

Rochelle salt

Urea - citric acid 1:1 cocrystal ("urea citrate")

And few more :cool:

All of them grown using evaporation method, without any special equipment.

j_sum1 - 3-2-2016 at 15:43

I wouldn't be so humble about those. They are gorgeous!
I love the potassium tris-oxalato aluminate.

Velzee - 3-2-2016 at 15:44

@Dmishin Oh my—those are so wonderful! How did you make the compounds (not crystals) K2Mg(SO4)2*6H2O and (NH4)2Zn(SO4)2*6H2O?

DraconicAcid - 3-2-2016 at 16:19

@Dmishin Oh my—those are so wonderful! How did you make the compounds (not crystals) K2Mg(SO4)2*6H2O and (NH4)2Zn(SO4)2*6H2O?

I imagine they'd be made the same way as I made (NH₄)₂Mg(SO₄)₂*6H₂O. Mix ammonium sulphate and magnesium sulphate in a one-to-one mole ratio, and dissolve in a minimum of water. Allow to evaporate.

A similar method worked for (NH₄)₂Ni(SO₄)₂*6H₂O but not (NH₄)₂Cu(SO₄)₂*6H₂O

The Volatile Chemist - 3-2-2016 at 16:26

Is that natural color of sodium citrate?

Its pity that NaOH was in excess.
Anyway nice crystals

Oh, no, sorry, they're sitting on a blue clipboard. They're a sort-of rocky milk-white.

Dmishin - 4-2-2016 at 02:16

How did you make the compounds (not crystals) K2Mg(SO4)2*6H2O and (NH4)2Zn(SO4)2*6H2O?

Mixing simple sulfates in stoichiometric proportions in aqueous solution, then crystallizing. But actually, since these double compounds are often less soluble than single salts, it is often enough to mix any salts, providing enough required ions.
I made a batch of K2Mg(SO4)2*6H2O by mixing KCl and MgSO4 and evaporating, by the equation:

2KCl + 2Mg2SO4 + 6H2O -> K2Mg(SO4)2*6H2O (s) + MgCl2 (aq)

I also make alum by mixing NH4NO3 (that's crazy, but it is the most obtainable source of ammonium ions for me) and Al2(SO4)3.

Dmishin - 4-2-2016 at 02:29

A similar method worked ... not (NH₄)₂Cu(SO₄)₂*6H₂O

I wonder why. I tried this in mini-test (few ml of solution), and observed light-blue tabular crystals, clearly different from the pure CuSO4*5H2O.

crystal grower - 4-2-2016 at 04:28

Oh, crystals! I am sorry in advance for picture-loaded post. So, here is a part of my humble collection.

Glucose-NaCl-water cocrystal, 2:1:1 molar ratio

NH4Fe(SO4)2 12H2O and KAl(SO4)2 12H2O

K2Mg(SO4)2 6H2O

(NH4)2Zn(SO4)2 6H2O

K2SO4

Potassium tris-oxalato aluminate. K3 [Al(C2O4)3]

Rochelle salt

Urea - citric acid 1:1 cocrystal ("urea citrate")

And few more :cool:

All of them grown using evaporation method, without any special equipment.

They are awesome !
I must try the rochelle salt too.

DraconicAcid - 4-2-2016 at 11:56

A similar method worked ... not (NH₄)₂Cu(SO₄)₂*6H₂O

I wonder why. I tried this in mini-test (few ml of solution), and observed light-blue tabular crystals, clearly different from the pure CuSO4*5H2O.

I got more clusters of crystals than observable single crystals. I'll try again.

Velzee - 5-2-2016 at 09:15

@Dmishin, I attempted to make K2Mg(SO4)2*6H2O, as per your method of adding the reactants in stoichiometric amounts(~33 grams of MgSO4*7H2O dissolved into ~100mL of hot distilled water, and 10 grams of KCl dissolved into ~50mL of hot distilled water) into a suitable container, and then boiling the solution down, then allowing it to evaporate. The crystals that formed were a bit uneven, but, nevertheless, beautiful:

https://i.imgur.com/BAySBci.jpg

As you can see, the crystals do not look like the ones you posted. Whether or not they are K2Mg(SO4)2*6H2O, I'm not sure. I have many more crystals of similar size; I'm in the process of coating them with clear nail polish in order to protect them.

[Edited on 2/5/2016 by Velzee]

[Edited on 2/5/2016 by Velzee]

Dmishin - 5-2-2016 at 10:34

As you can see, the crystals do not look like the ones you posted. Whether or not they are K2Mg(SO4)2*6H2O, I'm not sure.

I see the opposite: the crystal at the top definitely look the same. Look, I drew similar edges with red.

The difference is because your was grown quickly on the bottom of the vessel, and mine were grown slowly, suspended on a thread in the middle of solution and have all edges fully developed.

I'm in the process of coating them with clear nail polish in order to protect them.

I think, this compound is not prone to dehydration, so covering is not required.

Of the above specimens, only ferric alum and potassium oxalato aluminate require protection (I store them in a tightly closed container though). Others are stored on air and haven't changed in months.

Pumukli - 6-2-2016 at 15:51

How do you suspend a small crystal on a thread? I mean, I always had the impression that the thread , the knot, the touching surfaces will cause growth errors and anything but malformed crystals would result. It is apparently not the case but I don't know why?
Anyone knows the answer?

crystal grower - 6-2-2016 at 23:33

Quote: Originally posted by Pumukli

How do you suspend a small crystal on a thread? I mean, I always had the impression that the thread , the knot, the touching surfaces will cause growth errors and anything but malformed crystals would result. It is apparently not the case but I don't know why?
Anyone knows the answer?

Try to heat the solution a little and add the salt to make it saturated.
Then put inside the thread ( I prefer nylon ) and let it slowly cool down.
When the solution is already cooled, there should be small crystals attached on the thread. The best looking crystal of them should be used for crystal growing while the rest of the crystals must be removed.
The goal of this procedure is a seed crystal attached on the thread without need of tying it .
I hope this will help you

Dmishin - 7-2-2016 at 06:44

@Pumukli
I usually just tie them. With some luck, if the thread is thin and smooth enough, it forms no additional crystallization centers, and knot submerges seamlessly into the growing seed. Method described by crystal grower (waiting until appropriate seeds naturally appear on a thread) also works and gives even better results, but is a bit unpredictable.

I photographed my process of attaching seed (of glucose-NaCl cocrystal) for a reddit thread, take a look: http://imgur.com/a/3h2Gf

At the moment, seed on the last photo doubled in size, and the knot is inside.

crystal grower - 8-2-2016 at 09:09

This one is NaHSO4.10H2O crystal made by cooling the solution.
I u want simply and quickly made crystals I could only recommend this one. Only but quite serious con is that this stuff is very hygroscopic and can be easily dehydratated.

Velzee - 8-2-2016 at 09:51

This one is NaHSO4.10H2O crystal made by cooling the solution.
I u want simply and quickly made crystals I could only recommend this one. Only but quite serious con is that this stuff is very hygroscopic and can be easily dehydratated.

All I keep getting from you is amazingness!! Keep it coming! Perhaps, try colored crystals(red, green, yellow, ect.)?

DraconicAcid - 8-2-2016 at 10:06

I once bought some nylon fishing wire to dangle crystals from, and I could not tie knots in the damned stuff. It would just flip back to its original shape. And when I could get a knot it in, getting the xtal to stay in it was usually a losing battle. Thin copper wire worked better, but only for some particularly unreactive substances.

crystal grower - 8-2-2016 at 10:14

All I keep getting from you is amazingness!! Keep it coming! Perhaps, try colored crystals(red, green, yellow, ect.)?

Thanks very much

.
"Colored crystals"-you mean by food colorant?
Yes that would be interesting to look at ,altough useless for my collection (I prefer natural colors). But I could try it with this compound or maybe with magnesium sulfate.
Anyway thanks for advice.

crystal grower - 8-2-2016 at 10:21

I once bought some nylon fishing wire to dangle crystals from, and I could not tie knots in the damned stuff. It would just flip back to its original shape. And when I could get a knot it in, getting the xtal to stay in it was usually a losing battle. Thin copper wire worked better, but only for some particularly unreactipve substances.

I know this problem very well.

Sometimes I get rage like this :mad:

-especially when u finally make a knot and the crystal break down.
Maybe try the procedure I described on the previous page.

[Edited on 8-2-2016 by crystal grower]

Velzee - 8-2-2016 at 10:37

@crystal grower I meant naturally colored, for example, K2Cr2O7.

crystal grower - 8-2-2016 at 10:47

I already have p.dichromate crystals grown.
I will try mixing it with some transparent compound but I haven't p.dichromate at the moment.
When they will be done I will certainly post them here.

Dmishin - 8-2-2016 at 14:35

I once bought some nylon fishing wire to dangle crystals from, and I could not tie knots in the damned stuff. It would just flip back to its original shape.

After numerous failed attempts, I have found a solution for this problem, so simple that it is stupid. Use a sole, double-overhand knot (I mean, insert seed on step 5 of that animation). It has slight self-tightening property, just enough to hold nylon line. Also, it is not making a big lump of thread inside crystal.

Though, fishing like is too thick for small seeds, better use a filament from some rope or something like this.

[Edited on 8-2-2016 by Dmishin]

crystal grower - 11-2-2016 at 05:44

Nothing special, but pretty anyway. MgSO4.7H2O monocrystal.

blogfast25 - 11-2-2016 at 07:56

Nothing special, but pretty anyway. MgSO4.7H2O monocrystal.

Wow! That's quite a whopper.

Many would be interested knowing how it was made or obtained. I wouldn't usually consider MgSO₄.7H₂O as an ideal crystal growing material.

The Volatile Chemist - 11-2-2016 at 08:36

FOr one, that Sodium Bisulfate crystal is stunning.
But I noticed this on twitter a while ago, this run of the competition is over, but I found it interesting:
http://www.uscrystalgrowingcompetition.org/
Maybe it seems a 'kiddie' sort of thing, but I wouldn't mind submitting something, that's for sure! Has anyone heard of this before?

crystal grower - 11-2-2016 at 11:08

Quote: Originally posted by blogfast25

Nothing special, but pretty anyway. MgSO4.7H2O monocrystal.

Wow! That's quite a whopper.

Many would be interested knowing how it was made or obtai
ned. I wouldn't usually consider MgSO₄.7H₂O as an ideal crystal growing material.

Epson salt ussually forms long needles and it's difficult to grow large single crystal (it also form many parasitic crystals quite often ) .
That was serious problem for me.
For this crystal I used this procedure:
I made some crystals by slow cooling of the solution.
I picked the pretiest of them and tied it on a thread.
Then I put it back to the solution.
I noticed that the solution is slightly yellow I probably accidentally contamined it with iron(III) chloride (I had worked with it before that). Yeah that seems to be amateur mistake, but it appeared that the iron chloride (which didnt form crystals itself somehow helped the MgSO4 to grow single crystal without any parasites.
Then I let the solution to slowly evaporate.
I don't exactly know how it work

but I have heard that FeCl3 is sometimes used for similiar purposes.

Great stuff being posted here!

Bezaleel - 19-2-2016 at 06:45

Quote: Originally posted by nezza

This is a small crystal of praseodymium sulphate (About 7-8mm long). It appeared slowly (several months) in a solution of the sulphate I made some time ago.

Congratulations, Nezza. It's a beauty. Crystallising the rare earth sulphates is not that easy. A bit of luck is needed as well, I guess, as I run into supersaturation most of the times. I have a similar size crystal from Nd2(SO4)3.8H2O. I get the impression that it is an advantage if the solutions are not too pure. My Nd-sulphate crystals formed with ease from the Nd-sulphate extracted from magnets, that surely contained some minor impurities from the magnets.

Here's a small samarium acetate crystal. I've seen picture from a German guy who crew crystals a few inches in size from this substance.

Have anyone experience with growing crystals in gel?
I'd be very thankful for any information.

VolatileChemist, I'd love to see your PbI2 crystals produced this way. Have you somewhere written down the method you used?
I could only produce the yellow-golden platelets from letting a hot solution of PbI2 cool down.

Oh, crystals! I am sorry in advance for picture-loaded post. So, here is a part of my humble collection.
(...)
K2SO4

(...)
All of them grown using evaporation method, without any special equipment.

That's peculiar as you get a lovely hexagonal bipyramid. Wish I had obtained a seed crystal like that! Did this just form in your solution? I only got tabular crystals from K2SO4.

A similar method worked ... not (NH₄)₂Cu(SO₄)₂*6H₂O

I wonder why. I tried this in mini-test (few ml of solution), and observed light-blue tabular crystals, clearly different from the pure CuSO4*5H2O.

I got more clusters of crystals than observable single crystals. I'll try again.

Monocrystals should form cubes with some of the corners cut off diagonally, according to H.L Heys' Chemistry Experiments at Home for Boys and Girls (ISBN 9780245554476) . This take very slow evaporation and controlled temperature changes. Mine were crystallised too quickly and gave such results as these.

Barium chloride

Bezaleel - 20-2-2016 at 08:21

Barium chloride dihydrate crystallises as large plates with the corners cut off at about 45°. The crystals grow very easily by cooling down the solution. (Always make sure some undissolved crystals are at the bottom before hanging in your seed crystal - since they grow quickly, they also dissolve quickly...) In the pictures above, the crystal is suspended from a 0.1 mm nylon monofilament thread. There doesn't seem to be a problem in hanging some 100 grams on these threads.

Care must be taken not to let them grow too fast, or all kinds of outgrowths will detract from their beauty.

crystal grower - 20-2-2016 at 09:55

@bezaleel very nice indeed.
I've never grown Barium chloride crystals but I'm going to try it.
Thanks for all the info.
Barium chloride is quite harmful stuff so be careful (You probably know it very well but I want to warn everyone unacquainted).

crystal grower - 21-2-2016 at 07:12

Small crystals of nickel sulfate hexahydrate.
I will hopefully post bigger crystals when they will be done.

Deathunter88 - 21-2-2016 at 08:18

Small crystals of nickel sulfate hexahydrate.
I will hopefully post bigger crystals when they will be done.

Very nice crystals! I made 200g of nickel sulfate the other they and they crystallised into the beautiful crystals you have there. But upon placing on some paper towels to dry, the next day they had dehydrated into a gray-green crumbly powder. I don't know if you will have the same problem but the humidity here is 60% so if you want your crystals to last you need to be somewhere more humid than 60% (I don't know by how much you have to be above by) or use nail varnish as soon as you remove the crystal from the water.

crystal grower - 21-2-2016 at 09:04

Quote: Originally posted by Deathunter88

Small crystals of nickel sulfate hexahydrate.
I will hopefully post bigger crystals when they will be done.

Thanks for caution.
They were being on air about 6 hours till now and it seems that they arent dehydrating at all.
Now I am going to grow bigger crystal and I will probably set it in closed akryl box. I hope it will be enough.

JJay - 21-2-2016 at 10:10

Does anyone here grow crystal gardens? I'm trying to figure out what is in Mrs. Stewart's brand bluing. The MSDS reveals nothing, and the company website says it is basically a "blue iron" in a buffer solution. I suspect it is potassium ferrous ferricyanide and a phosphate buffer.

unionised - 21-2-2016 at 11:41

Well, that took about 40 years...
About 40 years ago my grandmother told me about this, but her recollection of it was poor. It was something she had heard of, rather than actually done.
The only bits of the recipe she was sure of were the ammonia and the washing blue.
so, It's very likely that the blue referred to on that web page was the same blue that was sold for blueing clothes.
If that's the case it was prussian blue.
And maybe I will try it- 40 years later...

The Volatile Chemist - 22-2-2016 at 16:28

Crystal grower, I don't have a picture of the PbI₂ crystals grown in Silica gel, but if one combines silicic acid and a small amount of acetic acid (vinegar concentration will do) and lead nitrate, then lets it harden overnight, then adds a solution of KI on top of the gel after, and lets it sit, crystals form in the gel. Unfortunately, they did seem a bit too thin to grab out of the gel.

crystal grower - 23-2-2016 at 03:42

Crystal grower, I don't have a picture of the PbI₂ crystals grown in Silica gel, but if one combines silicic acid and a small amount of acetic acid (vinegar concentration will do) and lead nitrate, then lets it harden overnight, then adds a solution of KI on top of the gel after, and lets it sit, crystals form in the gel. Unfortunately, they did seem a bit too thin to grab out of the gel.

In fact that was Bezaleel who asked you this question but anyway thanks for answer.

crystal grower - 23-2-2016 at 03:48

Another crystals of NiSO4 but this time they are more green than blue. Am I right that it´s heptahydrate ??

[Edited on 23-2-2016 by crystal grower]

Bezaleel - 26-2-2016 at 07:49

Crystal grower, you are correct. The blue one is the hexahydrate, the green one is the heptahydate.

@bezaleel very nice indeed.
I've never grown Barium chloride crystals but I'm going to try it.
Thanks for all the info.
Barium chloride is quite harmful stuff so be careful (You probably know it very well but I want to warn everyone unacquainted).

Thanks!
I wonder why you remark the harmfulness of barium salts, whereas you don't mention that both nickel salts and dichromates are carcinogens...

In fact that was Bezaleel who asked you this question but anyway thanks for answer.

Indeed - thanks.
@Volatile Chemist: I keep wondering about your procedure for crystal growing in silicic acid gel. You say that you combine silicic acid with dilute acetic acid, but silicic acid is a hard substance. Thus it seems like you combined sodium silicate solution (waterglass) with acetic acid and lead acetate solution. But if that is so, then why is there no lead silicate being formed? Or is there, and is metathesis with KI what happens next?

Deathunter88 - 26-2-2016 at 10:34

Quote: Originally posted by Bezaleel

Crystal grower, you are correct. The blue one is the hexahydrate, the green one is the heptahydate.