Creative Way to Make Elemental Potassium?
An idea for chemical preparation of elemental potassium, which does not require electric current. It would be impractical, but very creative. Not sure
if all the reactions would work.
Ca3N2 + (6)KCl --> (3)CaCl2 + (3)K2 + N2
Distilling calcium nitride with potassium chloride in with steel-walled distillation may cause potassium to boil out. This proposed reaction would
make use of Le Chatelier's principle. Although potassium boils at 759°C, it is possible that molten potassium could be produced below this
temperature. Although lithium can burn in nitrogen, both sodium and potassium nitrides are very unstable. Sodium nitride decomposes into elemental
sodium, giving off nitrogen gas, at only 87°C.
(6)CaCl2 + Ti3N4 --> (2)Ca3N2 + (3)TiCl4
The titanium nitride (m.p. 2930°C) would be crushed into a fine powder and distilled under intense heat with calcium chloride.
Titanium tetrachloride (TiCl4) is a liquid which boils at only 137 °C.
(3)TiCl4 + (16)NH3 --> Ti3N4 + (12)NH4Cl
(3)TiI4 + (16)NH3 --> Ti3N4 + (12)NH4I
I think titanium tetraiodide (b.p. 377 °C) could be reacted with anhydrous ammonia gas to form titanium nitride and ammonium iodide. I am not sure if
the NH3 could be bubbled into molten TiI4, or if the TiI4 would need to be in the vapor phase, with the intense heat required for the reaction. The
reaction would be expected to procede because TiI4 is very acidic, and because the titanium-nitrogen bonds are stronger than titanium-iodide.
Wikipedia claims that TiCl4 "with ammonia, titanium nitride is formed"; this is not surprising since TiCl4 reacts with water to form titanium dioxide
and hydrogen chloride.
Titanium tetraiodide melts at 150 °C. It can be prepared from easily obtainable materials:
(3) TiO2 + (4) AlI3 --> (3)TiI4 + (2)Al2O3
|
