Deathunter88
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Using Quartz Glass Instead of Borosilicate Glass?
Where I live it is easy and cheap to buy things made of quartz. Sure it is about three times as expensive as normal borosilicate glass but even then
it's only about 5$ for a quartz beaker.
My question is if it would be a good idea to switch entirely to quartz glass. I can get quartz flasks, beakers, round bottoms, condensers, test tube,
crucibles etc. It is advertised as being able to be heated to 1100C and then dipped into room temp. water without cracking. Would there be any major
drawback with using all quartz for carrying out reactions?
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Sulaiman
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I'm too inexperienced for a technical response,
but I suspect that there will be a lot of salivating. ... cheap and available quartz glassware ....
sort of stuff an Australian distributor could consider?
[Edited on 31-3-2015 by Sulaiman]
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Dr.Bob
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Quartz labware is awesome. I have had a few things made of it, it is more UV transparent than borosilicate glass, so you can see TLCs developing,
for instance. I think it is quite sturdy, so I see no downside, other than cost. Wish I had some more of it.
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Deathunter88
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Thanks for the replies!
Guess my first piece of quartz glassware will be a 300mm liebig condenser for 25$. Amazing!
No more broken condenser distilling sulphuric acid!
(Living in China is awesome EXCEPT FOR THE FACT THAT CONCENTRATED SULFURIC ACID IS BASICALLY BANNED  )
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IrC
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Have you considered becoming an eBay seller? We on the outside cannot easily or at reasonable cost obtain such glassware. If you can do this, think
about how selling it online at a reasonable markup (which would still be cheaper for us) could support your chemistry experimenting and who knows also
make you a prosperous living. I do not know how things such as this work there other than nearly everything I buy is from a large number of sellers in
China. Of course if you do inform us so we can find your items. Just a thought.
"Science is the belief in the ignorance of the experts" Richard Feynman
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Zombie
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2nd that emotion...
It would be Fantastic to see an Ebay seller dealing in Quartz.
They tried to have me "put to sleep" so I came back to return the favor.
Zom.
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Bot0nist
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Dearhunter88, I would also be interested in obtaining a few quarts pieces for reasonable expense, as I am sure many others here would be as well. I
agree with IrC in that if it is feasible for you to do, you could likely do quite well for yourself while helping your fellow amateur experimenters.
Good luck, and yes, I am greening with envy. 
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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cryomancer
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Damn send be some of that, Fused Quartz is better than Borsilicate because of its high temp resistance and its
tolerance to other chemicals and i even believe that it withstands HF (correct me if im wrong) But send me some of that. a 10ml beaker comes up at 20$
and its like 187$ for a 1000ml beaker when i search it on the internet
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Deathunter88
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I would wish to sell it on ebay if not for the fact that I'm only 13... Also I live in China so I would have to deal with shipping. Sometimes I really
wish I could grow up quicker XD. But perhaps you can find someone else from China to sell you some. There is an Amazon/Ebay like site here in China
that sells practically anything you can think of. 40% HF for 50cents per 500ml without anyone asking questions. 75% Perchloric acid for 1$ per 500ml
no problem. 95% white fuming nitric acid for 5$ a liter no questions asked and no hazmat. BUT SULFURIC ACID IS PRATICALLY BANNED ARGGGGG
Anyways, like I said, if you can find someone who lives in China they can just as easily buy the quartz and send it your way.
(Or you know, just move to China and you get free SOx and NOx and make sulphuric and nitric acid inside your lungs.  )
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Molecular Manipulations
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Wow, you sure are lucky to have such easy access to chemicals like that.
You could probably sell them to America and make a profit, even at thirteen, that's when I started my first eBay business.
BTW, you can make sulfuric acid by bubbling sulfur dioxide through nitric acid. The reaction is:
SO2 + HNO3 --> HNO2 + SO3
The nitrous acid decomposes and the sulfur trioxide reacts with residual water and then water from nitrous acid's decomposition to form sulfuric acid
at high concentration (assuming the nitric is of high conc.).
-The manipulator
We are all here on earth to help others; what on earth the others are here for I don't know. -W. H. Auden
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j_sum1
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I agree with the notion that you have the makings of a tidy little pocket-money earner if you manage to onsell some quartz-ware.
But if you are really certain you do not wish to, you may like to share a link to your supplier. He would be sure to get some buyers.
As for H2SO4, I have a little system going electrolysing copper sulfate. It is not quick. But I am now managing to get some high quality colourless
acid at a decent concentration out of it. I use a 500mL plastic container, large lead sheet for an anode, copper wire cathode, a current regulated
power supply running at less than 2A and work in batches not exceeding 75g of CuSO4. I then boil it down until white fumes appear and then go a
minute or two longer. Obviously, my volumes are low but I can get a little production run going each evening if I want and I have sufficient for my
needs at the moment.
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quantumcorespacealchemyst
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oil/spirit of V.I.T.R.I.O.L
Quote: Originally posted by Deathunter88  | I would wish to sell it on ebay if not for the fact that I'm only 13... Also I live in China so I would have to deal with shipping. Sometimes I really
wish I could grow up quicker XD. But perhaps you can find someone else from China to sell you some. There is an Amazon/Ebay like site here in China
that sells practically anything you can think of. 40% HF for 50cents per 500ml without anyone asking questions. 75% Perchloric acid for 1$ per 500ml
no problem. 95% white fuming nitric acid for 5$ a liter no questions asked and no hazmat. BUT SULFURIC ACID IS PRATICALLY BANNED ARGGGGG
Anyways, like I said, if you can find someone who lives in China they can just as easily buy the quartz and send it your way.
(Or you know, just move to China and you get free SOx and NOx and make sulphuric and nitric acid inside your lungs. ) |
I am puzzled, that only H2SO4 is banned, while there is access to other acids.
I am interested in the construction of a small Contact Method plant/apparatus.
There is are an article from an old scientific american magazine issue, found on this site somewhere. I hope to refind this soon.
The aparatus uses a water bottle siphon to ull a vacuum on the system and there is a dish of Sulfur at the entrance which is burned to SO2, with an
inverted funnel over it. The funnel pulls in the SO2 passes through a tube that has a catalyst in it and bubbles into water (H2SO4 once aquired). The
out ut of the bubbling is connected to the siphon bottle, completing the system. the tube that holds the catalyst is heated underneath with a flame.
They used Iron Oxide (i don't remember which one or what), although Vandium pentoxide, V2O5, is used industrially.
the catalyst turns the Sulfur in SO2 (+4) to +6 allowing it to bond with another O, making SO3, which bubbles into water (quite reactively, releasing
acid mist), and H2SO4 producing concentrated H2SO4/Oleum.
if you can get customized ground glass quartz (perhaps draw out schematics and get pricing from quartz workers), you maay be able to make a small rig
that can be run daily to make it as needed. This is what I hope for myself as well.
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Jimmymajesty
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If you need some H2SO4 just go with Molecular Manipulations's route, dilute some nitric to 75% let SO2 into the acid, when there is enough
nitrosylsulphuric acid -indicated by the orange color- hydrolyse the liquid with water, then boil it down.
As for the quartz its chemical resistance is the same as borosilicates' its heat resistance that makes all the difference.
Where I live, for a grounded quartz joint adapter they ask around 400dollars!!! It is over-insanely high priced!
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zed
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Seems to me, Sulfuric Acid can be made the same general method as Phosphoric acid.
By microwaving its Ammonium Salt, under vacuum. Ammonia out-gases, leaving acid behind.
Examples of the procedure should be found in the search engine.
Here is a patent of a similar process.
http://www.google.com/patents/US20040234441
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Magpie
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One thing to be aware of is the difference in the coefficient of expansion between quartz and borosilicate. This becomes important when joining the
two using a tapered joint and then heating to a high temperature. You should check but I believe the expansion is higher for borosilicate. This
means that it should be the female end.
[Edited on 15-4-2015 by Magpie]
[Edited on 15-4-2015 by Magpie]
The single most important condition for a successful synthesis is good mixing - Nicodem
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Jimmymajesty
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Hey Magpie,
That is the reason why I am turning graphite adapters to connect the quartz tube and the grounded glass joints in my new oxidation reactor (the
thermal exp. coeff of hard graphite is between glass and quartz). I hope it will be finished in the coming weeks. I will try it out with toluene
[Edited on 15-4-2015 by Jimmymajesty]
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