Draeger
Hazard to Others
Posts: 185
Registered: 31-1-2020
Location: North-Rhine Westfalia, Germany
Member Is Offline
Mood: Slowly getting ready for new projects
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White residue from reaction of sodium hydroxide and silica gel
I've gotten around to do some glassware cleaning and am trying to get rid of the residue named above. The container which it is in smells lightly
stinging and reminds me of rock and earth in odor, somewhat, if that helps. I tried to let it stand under some HCl overnight to see if it would
dissolve in it, but nothing has changed. The residue still sits at the bottom and nothing has dissolved.
Do you have any advice on how I could clean it?
Collected elements:
Al, Cu, Ga, C (coal), S, Zn, Na
Collected compounds:
Inorganic:
NaOH; NaHCO3; MnCl2; MnCO3; CuSO4; FeSO4; aq. 30-33% HCl; aq. NaClO; aq. 9,5% ammonia; aq. 94-96% H2SO4; aq. 3% H2O2
Organic:
citric acid, sodium acetate, sodium citrate, petroleum, mineral oil
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dawt
Hazard to Self
Posts: 74
Registered: 9-5-2016
Location: EU
Member Is Offline
Mood: fluorescent
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Sounds like you got yourself some sodium silicates. If they don't dissolve in water I don't think there's much you can do chemically to remove them
that wouldn't also damage the container (assuming it's glass). If it's plastic you could try some HF (easily made by mixing a fluoride salt with an
acid, but beware of the fumes and take precautions against getting any on your skin). Otherwise scrub as best you can, ignore the residue as it'll
likely be inert to whatever you're going to store in that container in the future, or simply trash the container.
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Draeger
Hazard to Others
Posts: 185
Registered: 31-1-2020
Location: North-Rhine Westfalia, Germany
Member Is Offline
Mood: Slowly getting ready for new projects
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Quote: Originally posted by dawt  | | Sounds like you got yourself some sodium silicates. If they don't dissolve in water I don't think there's much you can do chemically to remove them
that wouldn't also damage the container (assuming it's glass). If it's plastic you could try some HF (easily made by mixing a fluoride salt with an
acid, but beware of the fumes and take precautions against getting any on your skin). Otherwise scrub as best you can, ignore the residue as it'll
likely be inert to whatever you're going to store in that container in the future, or simply trash the container. |
Definitely not going to try anything with the element fluorine in it. Scrubbing it is then. Thank you.
Collected elements:
Al, Cu, Ga, C (coal), S, Zn, Na
Collected compounds:
Inorganic:
NaOH; NaHCO3; MnCl2; MnCO3; CuSO4; FeSO4; aq. 30-33% HCl; aq. NaClO; aq. 9,5% ammonia; aq. 94-96% H2SO4; aq. 3% H2O2
Organic:
citric acid, sodium acetate, sodium citrate, petroleum, mineral oil
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