Sciencemadness Discussion Board

storage of ammonium hydroxide

soma - 10-1-2016 at 00:50

I want to get ammonium hydroxide to use for tlc and column chromatography. The msds says to keep it below 77F. It gets above 90F in the summer. I guess I could keep it in the frig as long as it doesn't leak at all.

Any suggestions?

Thanks.

shivam - 10-1-2016 at 03:27

Storage depends on the concentration really..
if the solution is much concentrated then make sure that the bottle/container can handle the partial pressure of ammonia
otherwise a lab fridge can come in handy

However, No need to check storage requirements for low concentration solutions, just make sure it's properly sealed and you're good to go ahead and store it
But a lab freezer is a better option in all cases anyway..

Sulaiman - 10-1-2016 at 04:10

I have 33% ammonia solution that slowly outgassed from the hdpe bottle that it was supplied in,
I transferred to a glass bottle with a PE cap ... no leakage even in summer ... so far.
vapour pressure is not too high for safe storage without cooling,
e.g. about +1 atmosphere at 70C https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ammonia_(data_page)

Wikipedia indicates that <25% is easily stored with little pressure.

P.S. there is almost no ammonium hydroxide in an ammonia solution.

[Edited on 10-1-2016 by Sulaiman]

NeonPulse - 10-1-2016 at 23:00

My 35% ammonia lives in the freezer -24c where it is happily stored in a HDPE bottle. tthe colder the better for ammonia to keep the internal pressure of the bottle to a minimum. I also find it much less irritating when you open the bottle too and there is less vapour floating around when it is used super cold