e.liska - 30-9-2017 at 05:50
I have found an ancient bottle full of nicely blue powder and a handwritten label in my native language, which translates to English as "Chinese
Blue". After some googling, I have found several compounds that are sometimes called "Chinese blue", BaCuSi4O10 is probably the most prominent. How
could I test with some simple diy method, whether it is indeed BaCuSi4O10?
Texium - 30-9-2017 at 06:22
Since your compound is very much like a silicate rock in structure, this should be helpful: https://pubs.usgs.gov/bul/1547/report.pdf
Silicates are very unreactice, and the only way to get them into an analyzable form is by fusing with a strong base, or by dissolving in a nasty
mixture of HF and HNO3...
[Edited on 9-30-2017 by zts16]
e.liska - 30-9-2017 at 07:00
Well, this is probably beyond my current ability. Would be testing for Prussian Blue (ferric hexacyanoferrate), which is also sometimes called Chinese
blue, be easier?