I have a solution of Cerium dioxide and copper but I only want the Cerium dioxide. How to extract or separate them?phlogiston - 8-11-2012 at 02:31
Leach with hydrochloric or sulfuric acid. This will dissolve the cerium oxide and leave the copper.
If you desire cerium oxide, rather than its chloride or sulphate, it should be possible to precipitate it from the solution by boiling with a mixture
of permanganate and carbonate in a 1:4 ratio (never tried it myself).DJF90 - 8-11-2012 at 02:55
He says he has a solution of the two, which is impossible given they're both insoluble. If they've been digested in nitric acid, you might be able to
precipitate the cerium as ceric ammonium nitrate. Endimion17 - 8-11-2012 at 04:36
Who knows what he actually meant to say...
"solution of cerium dioxide and copper" - that's absurd. I'd understand if he said "a solution of cerium and copper", that would be a nice start, as
it would probably be an aqueous mixture of their nitrates or other soluble salts.
This could be a heterogeneous mixture of cerium oxide dust and copper turnings/powder, but who knows...blogfast25 - 8-11-2012 at 06:58
Smacks of a badly copied chemistry class question to me... If not, butterfly should flap his wings and rephrase more precisely.Butterflywings - 8-11-2012 at 17:17
Sorry what I meant was Cerium and copper.Butterflywings - 8-11-2012 at 18:10
Sorry what I meant was Cerium and copper.AndersHoveland - 9-11-2012 at 02:06
Cerium salts have the unique property of not being very soluble in nitric acid, under certain conditions. Basic ceric nitrate has a low solubility. http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/ja02221a005
I think its formula is CeO(NO3)2
[Edited on 9-11-2012 by AndersHoveland]blogfast25 - 9-11-2012 at 09:24
Ceric ammonium sulphate (cerium (IV) ammonium sulphate) is also only sparingly soluble in water. Perhaps adding the required amounts of ammonium
sulphate could crystallise it out of the solution? CuSO4 is highly soluble by contrast and doesn't form a double salt with ammonium sulphate.ElectroWin - 9-11-2012 at 11:27
copper forms a soluble ammonia complex, Cu(NH3)4 2+,
does cerium form such a complex?
[Edited on 2012-11-09 by ElectroWin]blogfast25 - 10-11-2012 at 06:41
