nerdalert226
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MgSO4 to sulfuric acid
I was curious if I were to use a mgso4 solution (water) and 1 magneseum strip electrode as an anode and a carbon rod as a cathode would this create
sulfuric acid once a electric current is added?
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barley81
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No, you'd be making magnesium hydroxide and hydrogen gas. Even if you switched the polarity, you'd just be making hydrogen and oxygen gases.
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Chemistry Alchemist
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Electrolysis of salts to make acids, you would need to it be a non reactive element... When doing hydrolysis of magnesium sulfate, you are making
magnesium and sulfuric acid... But because magnesium is slightly reactive in water and will react to make magnesium hydroxide and hydrogen... This is
why magnesium sulfate won't work, but when you electrolysis copper sulfate, the copper formed, won't react with the water and will start to fall out
of solution while the sulfate ions will be converted into sulfuric acid... I've tried both, and the only one that makes sulfuric acid is copper
sulfate... There maybe others our there that also make it but copper sulfate is easily available so it's our best bet
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Bot0nist
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Reported spammer. All posts by this user.
U.T.F.S.E. and learn the joys of autodidacticism!
Don't judge each day only by the harvest you reap, but also by the seeds you sow.
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Adas
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I'd rather try sodium pyrosulfate method - get some NaHSO4, decompose it at 350°C to Na2S2O7, heat the Na2S2O7 above 460°C and you have SO3 which
you can condense, put into water or whatever.
Rest In Pieces!
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bbartlog
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With a divided cell you can do this. Sort of. I had very marginal results using MgSO4 solution and a terra cotta pot as a divider (ended up with 10ml
of dirty sulfuric acid after several hours of work).
The less you bet, the more you lose when you win.
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hissingnoise
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| Quote: | | heat the Na2S2O7 above 460°C and you have SO3 which you can condense, put into water or whatever. |
Water does not directly absorb SO<sub>3</sub> - leading the vapour to water produces a very corrosive, practically incondensible acid
mist.
In practice SO<sub>3</sub> is absorbed in conc. H<sub>2</sub>SO<sub>4</sub> to form oleum which is then
reacted with the requisite quantity of water to make acid of the desired strength!
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Adas
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How do you know that?
And in that case, how do they make the first H2SO4?
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Bot0nist
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He reads, I suggest you do the same...
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/H2SO4
Adding condensed SO3 to water would be very scary.
[Edited on 23-12-2011 by Bot0nist]
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Adas
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I read too, but what else can make SO3 + water? And I know the reaction is very fast and dangerous, of course!
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hissingnoise
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| Quote: | | And in that case, how do they make the first H2SO4? |
In antiquity, H<sub>2</sub>SO<sub>4</sub> was made by heating FeSO<sub>4</sub> and condensing the issuing vapours!
This was superseded by the 'lead-chamber' process, followed by the modern 'contact-process' . . .
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Bot0nist
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Did you read the link. Look up the historical process used to first make sulfuric acid. Like the lead chamber process.
hiss beat me to it.
[Edited on 23-12-2011 by Bot0nist]
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White Yeti
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Mg+2 is quite difficult to reduce, it is industrially produced by electrolysing a molten magnesium salt (usually MgCl2). So, if you were to even
attempt to obtain sulphuric acid from MgSO4, you'd have to melt some epsom salts, and pass hundreds of amps through the molten mix. Even then, all
you'd get at the anode would be SO2 and O2 gas.
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neptunium
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there is a forum on SO3 from NaHSO4 but requires heat above 700 C and quartz glass ....quite interesting if i may say.
Also i have this old book of chemistry from 1887,they propose to make sulfuric acid from burning sulphur in XS O2 and pass it over heated metal
chunks the gas go directly bubble into a cooled water flask...just like that
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hissingnoise
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| Quote: | | Also i have this old book of chemistry from 1887,they propose to make sulfuric acid from burning sulphur in XS O2 and pass it over heated metal
chunks the gas go directly bubble into a cooled water flask...just like that. |
I would suggest you read all the posts in the thread?
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neptunium
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didnt you and Adas mentionned the manufacture of H2SO4?
my apologies,
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Formatik
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H2SO4 from MgSO4 has been done by me and bbartlog through diiferent routes, chemical and electrolytical. It seems either way it is either ineffecient
and/or the sulfuric acid obtained with difficulty. Search the forum to find these.
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DerAlte
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If you are really interested in how to produce H2SO4 electrolytically, see my post
http://www.sciencemadness.org/talk/viewthread.php?tid=11129&...
Der Alte
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