Sciencemadness Discussion Board

Buying sodium wire of 0.1-0.3 mm dia

Shaikat Debnath - 9-9-2013 at 22:11

I want to buy some Sodium wire of 0.1-0.3 mm of diameter.

Can anyone suggest me any place/ supplier from where I can buy this sodium wire of 0.1-0.3 mm diameter sodium wire?

Other thing is, does anyone know any method to fabricate sodium in nano-scale spheres into glass substrate?

phlogiston - 10-9-2013 at 00:21

Sodium wire is normally made shortly before it is needed. Due to its reactivity, it is impractical to store it in a form such as a wire which has a very large surface area, and it can be easily and quickly extruded moments before it will be used.

0.1-0.3 mm is unusually thin, however. I am curious to hear what application you have in mind!

bfesser - 10-9-2013 at 04:20

Quote: Originally posted by Shaikat Debnath  
Does anyone know any method to fabricate sodium in nano-scale spheres into glass substrate?
A strange request. I doubt you'll come across anything, but try a literature search. I can't even imagine a way in which you could disperse sodium metal in a glass without it reacting or dissolving.

froot - 10-9-2013 at 06:47

I would imagine you'd need to extrude it in situ using a press thats immersed in a bath of inert fluid that's covered with a layer if inert gas. Doable.

eidolonicaurum - 5-1-2014 at 13:02

Try this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=btvQdW4fXJE&feature=yout...

Its a do-it-yourself, but it enables you to form it as you need it, and gets it to diameter you want. I am of course assuming you have access to sodium.

Pyro - 5-1-2014 at 15:27

Vogel has a method for making molecular sodium.
they put Na in a large flask under xylenes, then heat until the xylene refluxes on the neck of the flask. then stopper and shake it until the Na solidifies. how fine the Na is depends on how hard you shake.

maybe you can start there to get it to your glass substrate.