Pretty Pictures (1)

Tons of nude sodium!

Quote: Originally posted by NurdRage

Yield is still shit, around ~10%. I want to get that to ~50% before i share it.

Quote: Originally posted by bfesser

Mg is exceedingly cheap and easy to come by. 10% Na yield <em>is</em> worth sharing.

Yes, 10% yield is better than 0%. For those in the US, Mg fire starter blocks are available at Wal-Fart, Harbor Freight and Academy, to name a few. I don't know what impurities they have but I just picked one up from HF for $2.49 (though, not for Na production)...

EDIT: It weighs 40g including the flint that's glued to the side (I can't remove it w/o breaking it).



Tom

[Edited on 4-19-2011 by m1tanker78]

I get all my Mg from these, and laptop frames Pure enough for me.

Crude TNP that was laid to dry near an open beaker of of aqueous NH₃. Suspected formation of ammonium picrate. Sample was pure yellow the night before, but bright red crystals can be observed on the side near the beaker today. A beautiful surprise.

Gold leaf suspended in water extracted from computer processor:

Macro shots with a cell phone...

Unknown carbon compound that begins life as glossy planar flakes and (presumably) picks up moisture from the air and recrystallizes into a glassy needle structure.

A small chunk broken off the block:



It looks like glass but is composed of many smaller 'fibers' that run parallel to each other. It's times like these I wish for a microscope:



And finally, a small cluster ~8mm tall. It took a steady hand to pull this one off:



Tom

The first picture is some crystals of NaNO3
The second is of some copper being dissolved. I added some acetic acid, dumped some sodium chloride right in the middle, then poured in some hydrogen peroxide and let it work its magic. Its like a lagoon By the way, those are the actual colors-even though the copper looks dull.



[Edited on 25-4-2011 by sternman318]

Organic metal salts

Hi I'm interested in organic anions that form crystalline metals salts. Check these out, they are the barium and strontium salts of alloxan 5 oxime;

Both the violet fishtail twins and the pink coral like material are barium salts but I don't yet know what the difference is.
Strontium forms crimson blades and small brick red balls in the same fashion.

here is a rare look at sulfur naturally occurring in a volcanic steam vent from Kilauea in Hawaii on the Big Island.



although of questionable legality i could not help taking a sample...



sorry i should have put this on too. close up of the crystals. gorgeous long shiny needles, look how the light glints off the surface...

[Edited on 20-5-2011 by Rogeryermaw]

Quote: Originally posted by Megamarko94

some aluminium chloride hexahydrate..... [Edited on 26-5-2011 by Megamarko94]

Quote: Originally posted by blogfast25

AlCl3 cannot be isolated as a hydrate.

I'm a bit surprised one can crystallise the hydrate of AlCl3 at all, I'd have expected it to more or less completely hydrolyse. Live and learn!

Try washing your crystals with pure acetone: FeCl3 is highly soluble in it. I've done this with ZrOCl2.8H2O. Worked very well. But they won't be so pretty anymore!

first one some potassium nitrate crystals gotta love that
and second is potassium chlorate with a bit of permanganate contamination, used a MnO2 electrode and for got to apply an electrolitic layer of MnO2
taken with an iphone wish i had a better camera

<img src="http://i55.tinypic.com/i5w0up.jpg" width="800" />



[<a href="u2u.php?action=send&username=bfesser">bfesser</a>: fixed width]

[Edited on 7/7/13 by bfesser]

Copper(II) chloride

Here is a shrunk image of some copper(II) chloride crystals I grew using the CuO + HCl method.





Here are some pictures of cobalt compounds I synthesized for the purpose of photography. They are some of the more colorful compounds I photographed.

[Edited on 27-5-2011 by LanthanumK]

[Edited on 27-5-2011 by LanthanumK]

FeCl3 cristals....

Quote: Originally posted by Megamarko94

FeCl3 cristals....

Funny, that. Now your FeCl3.6H2O looks much darker than mine:



Yours looks a bit hydrolysed…


[Edited on 27-5-2011 by blogfast25]

Quote: Originally posted by LanthanumK

Here are some pictures of cobalt compounds I synthesized for the purpose of photography. They are some of the more colorful compounds I photographed.

Quote: Originally posted by MrHomeScientist

Quote: Originally posted by LanthanumK   Here are some pictures of cobalt compounds I synthesized for the purpose of photography. They are some of the more colorful compounds I photographed. What compound is the one on the left? Really nice granular crystals, and the deep red is beautiful!

Not a very sharp shot: phthalic acid needle-like crystals obtained by re-crystallisation of crude phthalic acid, now sitting in an ice bath. The phthalic acid was obtained by alkali hydrolysis of di (2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (commonly: DOP) and subsequent neutralisation of dipotassium phthalate. The DOP was extracted from vinyl (pPVC) gloves). These took several hours to materialise:



Diameter of outer circle about 5 cm.

[Edited on 27-5-2011 by blogfast25]

Here are more pictures. Many of my other pictures cannot be uploaded though because of the 800 pixel limit.

Sorry if I wasn't clear.

Hi Here are a few pretty coloured materials

1. Mercuric iodide
2. Stannic iodide in cyclohexane
3. Cobalt Thiocyanate in acetone
4. Not pretty, but some ampouled sodium I made years ago.

I don't know where to post this and don't want to open a new thread, also the crystals are quite pretty.
I added 200ml 35-40 % H2SO4 , 200 ml water and 100g KNO3 to a 2L beaker and 135 g copper wire.
After the vigorous reaction stopped, which gave off large amounts of NO2 gas, and the solution cooled these crystals formed
And I'll be damned, these look nothing like copper sulfate crystals! even though they're blue, as you can see, they're sky blue, not the well know copper sulfate blue. And I have seen and grown copper sulfate crystals many times, these are a totally different color! Could it be a double salt?



[Edited on 2-6-2011 by condennnsa]



[Edited on 2-6-2011 by condennnsa]

Copper Nitrate Crystals in a Beaker
Iron(II) Oxalate, KMnO4, Copper Carbonate
Copper Crystals

Quote: Originally posted by condennnsa

I don't know where to post this and don't want to open a new thread, also the crystals are quite pretty. I added 200ml 35-40 % H2SO4 , 200 ml water and 100g KNO3 to a 2L beaker and 135 g copper wire. After the vigorous reaction stopped, which gave off large amounts of NO2 gas, and the solution cooled these crystals formed And I'll be damned, these look nothing like copper sulfate crystals! even though they're blue, as you can see, they're sky blue, not the well know copper sulfate blue. And I have seen and grown copper sulfate crystals many times, these are a totally different color! Could it be a double salt?

Quote: Originally posted by condennnsa

I don't know where to post this and don't want to open a new thread, also the crystals are quite pretty. I added 200ml 35-40 % H2SO4 , 200 ml water and 100g KNO3 to a 2L beaker and 135 g copper wire. After the vigorous reaction stopped, which gave off large amounts of NO2 gas, and the solution cooled these crystals formed And I'll be damned, these look nothing like copper sulfate crystals! even though they're blue, as you can see, they're sky blue, not the well know copper sulfate blue. And I have seen and grown copper sulfate crystals many times, these are a totally different color! Could it be a double salt

Well, I've since done more reading around the internet, and I think that this is indeed a double sulfate of copper and potassium. Some stuff I found:

http://dalspace.library.dal.ca/bitstream/handle/10222/12491/...

This is apparently a paper from 1898, they give a thorough preparation of this salt, as well as an analysis, which they say is CuK2(SO4)2 * 6H2O.

http://books.google.com/books?id=HKgMAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA529&a...

Britannica also mentions this double salt :
" Cupric sulphate crystallises with 5 molecules of water, but it forms a double sulphate with potassium sulphate, CuK2(SO4)2 . 6H2O, isomorphous with the corresponding zinc and magnesium salts.

I find finds like this very exciting , even though i'm just an amateur who likes to read this and that about chemistry and I don't really understand many of the more advanced underlying phenomena, the sight of these beautiful crystals bring me lots of joy. Copper has such a rich chemistry.

I initially intended to use this procedure to precipitate blue undecomposed Cu(OH)2, but now I think I'll keep the double salt.

[Edited on 2-6-2011 by condennnsa]

Update - I added 100ml more 35-40% H2SO4 and 100g KNO3 and 300ml water to dissolve more of the copper, I heated the solution to get the reaction going. After a long time it , there is not much left of the copper wire, and upon cooling down the same crystals formed this time more numerous and smaller:





-Being the idiot that I am, I forgot to change the white balance on my camera, it was set for daylight, that's why the crystals appear more greenish. In fact they're the same color as in the previous pictures.



[Edited on 2-6-2011 by condennnsa]

Nice bit of Netresearch there, Condenssa. It looks like the double salt CuK₂(SO₄₂.6H₂O may well be the compound you stumbled upon. It would be nice to have analytical certainty though. Determining the amount of crystal water would be one element of analysis that could confirm (or infirm) the hypothesis that your stuff is indeed CuK₂(SO₄₂.6H₂O. For this, weight accurately some of the dry hydrate crystals, then drive off the water by heating and weigh again. From the weight loss we could then determine if the hydrate water at least corresponds to the alleged formula.

I was reducing a solution of (NH4)2PdCl6 (about 400mg Pd) in 25mL of 10-15% ammonia with hydrazine sulfate at 60-70C. A beautiful palladium mirror formed, but I had no camera at hand. Shame, would have been a nice picture!

Quite a nice day of experimenting, I also harvested about 2 grams of (NH4)2PtCl6 , made 5 grams of pure white needles of p-bromoacetanilide and am currently making bromobenzene by rxn of KBrO3 in dil. H2SO4 with benzene.

[Edited on 3-6-2011 by Jor]

Quote: Originally posted by Squall181

Copper Nitrate Crystals in a Beaker Iron(II) Oxalate, KMnO4, Copper Carbonate Copper Crystals

this is NH4NO3 recrystallized from cold packs.

http://www.sciencemadness.org/talk/viewthread.php?tid=16374&...

SO3 crystals. Beautiful but treacherous!

copper nitrate cristals....

A few drops of iodine tincture in a flask with mineral oil and water.

I was makeing some tetraammine copper (II) sulfate for furteher experiments with tetraammine copper salts... and was amazed that cystals grew so beautiful and large!!!

Quote: Originally posted by barley81

A few drops of iodine tincture in a flask with mineral oil and water.

Quote: Originally posted by Xenomorph

I was makeing some tetraammine copper (II) sulfate for furteher experiments with tetraammine copper salts... and was amazed that cystals grew so beautiful and large!!!

Fantastic: a more detailed write up would be welcome here

Quote: Originally posted by Jor

I was reducing a solution of (NH4)2PdCl6 (about 400mg Pd) in 25mL of 10-15% ammonia with hydrazine sulfate at 60-70C. A beautiful palladium mirror formed, but I had no camera at hand. Shame, would have been a nice picture!

I did something similar with a gold solution I formed a gold mirror in a flask, turning the bottom half of the flask (maybe ~25mL) into gold by deposition of gold dust on the walls (a black powder when it was rubbed off). I didn't take a picture either.

Oleic acid-capped cadmium selenide quantum dots suspended in toluene. Based on the UV-absorbance edge (558 nm), the Brus equation indicates that the core-crystals are approximately 2.78 nm in diameter.

Cheers,

O3

Quote: Originally posted by Ozone

Oleic acid-capped cadmium selenide quantum dots suspended in toluene...

Nice picture! I"m sure that there are many interesting inorganic compounds that would look awesome under UV. I'll have to pull out mu old UV lamp out! I see that you have some Pyrex Hach glassware. Do you have the volatile compounds distillation apparatus?

Hach Distillation Apparatus

I have two complete kits (minus hotplate) and would be willing to part with one, would trade for other glassware.

Robert

[Edited on 15-6-2011 by Arthur Dent]

Quote: Originally posted by blogfast25

Quote: Originally posted by Xenomorph   I was makeing some tetraammine copper (II) sulfate for furteher experiments with tetraammine copper salts... and was amazed that cystals grew so beautiful and large!!! Fantastic: a more detailed write up would be welcome here

Here is electrochemically crystalized silver. I did this few months ago by using electrodes of ~80%Ag/20%Cu alloy and AgNO3 electrolyte. I dont remember exact voltage...

Here is what I call the copper rainbow, even though the yellow is sort of yellow-green.





[Edited on 16-6-2011 by LanthanumK]

More physics than chemistry, I suppose, but here is my homemade Lichtenberg figure, or static discharge on powdered Zn on a ziploc bag

[Edited on 17-6-2011 by sternman318]

Finally found a picture of the home made iodine. So sparkly!

1) copper coin in 65% nitric acid

2) fluorescein (sodium salt) solution under UV lamp

3)Rhodamine B solution under UV

I have a decent picture of some tetraamine copper(II)nitrate, but I am not familiar on how to post an image... any help? sorry for the noob questions .

Thank you. For your kindness here is a picture of some tetraamine copper(II)nitrate I made a few months ago.

I tried my hand at the macro-photography option of my cam to get this reflected image of
the beatiful structure of Copper Sulphate crystals that have grown in a supersaturated
solution. The original single crystal that was grown on a suspended copper wire in the
solution, was much bigger but sadly, these structures are so fragile that they crumble
very easily.



Robert

Homemade glow stick!

TCPO, TCP and 9,10-diphenylanthracene (fluorescent dye) all synthesised by yours truly

Quote: Originally posted by strontiumred

Here is some blue sodium hypomanganate, Na3MnO4. Thanks to Mixell for the method. 12NaOH + 4MnO2 + O2 ---> 4Na3MnO4 + 6H2O. <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/strontiumred/5894390500/" title="Hypomanganate.jpg by strontiumred, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5151/5894390500_c959d89115.jpg" width="450" height="434" alt="Hypomanganate.jpg"></a> [Edited on 2-7-2011 by strontiumred] [Edited on 2-7-2011 by strontiumred] [Edited on 2-7-2011 by strontiumred]

Here is some nitroguanidine I made. First one is impure stuff, second one is recrystalized from boilig water. I will use it to make aminoguanidine, but I am quite busy right now. Is it safe to store this in dry form? I have read this is pretty insensitive and also I have read this is stored with 20% water not in dry form.

this is my sodium hypomanganate(V), obtained from sodium hydroxide and MnO2

Some Oxide spots on Nb by placing drops of KCl solution on a Nb sheet and connecting the sheet to + and putting a resistor end into the blob of KCl solution. (sheet an Anode, resistor end the Cathode).
The different colours are different thicknesses of Oxide. Better pictures on web if you look.
Dann2



[Edited on 8-8-2011 by dann2]

Amethyst coloured Ferric alum ‘geode’ (about 600 g of ammonium ferric sulphate dodecahydrate)

Wow, a pretty photo thread.

Here's my contribution:


WP I photographed few days ago.


ZnS phosphorescent dust.


Fresh iron sulfate heptahydrate.

some rupert drops against a polarizer
my first handmade liebig cooler - never actually tried how it works...
my hand grounding a germicidal tube - It was turned off, but connected to the mains

Love that zinc sulphide!




About 500 g (about 100 mm wide) of ferrous sulphate heptahydrate, recrystallised from garden grade (unknown mixture of hydrates with an anti-caking agent - bweurk!)


[Edited on 23-8-2011 by blogfast25]

Large quartz crystals, lab made One was traded to Theo Gray.


I can post more crystals of salts and stuff, I completely forgot I had a box of sealed samples. Also stuff from my friend Ivan at www.periodictable.ru

Not aesthetically pleasing but pretty, in the sense that I was able to observe and photo the fleeting existence of this complex.


Triiron Dodecacarbonyl - Fe3(CO)12

Tank

Quote: Originally posted by Endimion17

my first handmade liebig cooler - never actually tried how it works...

Quote: Originally posted by m1tanker78

Triiron Dodecacarbonyl - Fe3(CO)12 Tank

Benzoic acid crystals made from sodium benzoate and NaCl. Maybe some of you have seen it in the Wikipedia article..?

Quote: Originally posted by bob800

That's a really neat homemade condenser! Did you use an ordinary bunsen burner or blowtorch to melt the glass? I've been trying to make a crude Allihn condenser, but I can never get the bulbs to form... maybe my propane bunsen isn't hot enough.

Quote: Originally posted by Wizzard

Large quartz crystals, lab made

Quote: Originally posted by watson.fawkes

Quote: Originally posted by Wizzard   Large quartz crystals, lab made How do you make them?

Oh, I didn't make them Somebody with a large autoclave did, and these were produced as the process was being learned, judging by the shapes.

Quote: Originally posted by Wizzard

Large quartz crystals, lab made One was traded to Theo Gray.

That must be a really small $20 bill

Quote: Originally posted by blogfast25

Quote: Originally posted by m1tanker78   Triiron Dodecacarbonyl - Fe3(CO)12 Tank Curious as to how you made that complex!

Quote: Originally posted by sternman318

Quote: Originally posted by blogfast25   Quote: Originally posted by m1tanker78   Triiron Dodecacarbonyl - Fe3(CO)12 Tank Curious as to how you made that complex! Ditto!

You might find this pretty, or not.
This is an aluminium (air) cell, an exotic cell that not many people are familiar with. The anode is made of aluminium foil and the cathode is made of graphite rods from pencils. The extra twist is that I'm using Fenton's reagent as an oxidiser instead of air, which allows a much higher power output, as shown.
The white LED is hooked up to a joule thief because it needs 3V to operate while the cell only supplies half of that.
In my opinion, this surely beats a lemon battery
It doesn't show up very well on the camera, but the white LED is bright enough to give retina burns if you stare into it for a few seconds.


If you would like a sense of scale, the glass jar is about 10cm tall (4 inches).

[Edited on 9-2-2011 by White Yeti]