Sciencemadness Discussion Board

OTC Source of Sodium Metaperiodate

Deathunter88 - 3-6-2016 at 01:48

Sodium periodate is a useful oxidizer with the formula NaIO4. (It actually exists in two forms, the meta- and the ortho-, but here we will only be dealing with the meta-version). It can even oxidise trivalent chromium all the way to hexavalent chromium. Although this chemical can be prepared using chlorine and sodium iodate, it requires the generation of large amounts of chlorine gas which may be inconvenient. But surprisingly, it can be found cheaply OTC as Autostrip Powder.
IMG_5010.jpg - 1.9MB
This discovery occurred totally on accident, I was visiting Taobao (Chinese version of eBay) and was looking for some printer parts. But that seller also happened to have this powder in stock. I didn't know what autostrip powder is at the time, but being a chemist the oxidising symbol immediately drew my attention. Upon clicking into the listing, I was met with the words: "UN1479 Oxidizing Solid N.O.S. (Sodium Metaperiodate) EC No: 232-197-6". More intrigued than ever, I hastily looked up the MSDS of a similar product which stated 60-100% sodium metaperiodate. Digging deeper I found the technical sheet for this particular brand of autostrip powder and under disposal methods it mentioned that this product is in fact 100% sodium metaperiodate. The 100g packet cost $2.50 ($4 including shipping) so this is a pretty cheap source.

Screen Shot 2016-06-03 at 5.32.28 PM.png - 237kB Screen Shot 2016-06-03 at 5.31.55 PM.png - 113kB

careysub - 3-6-2016 at 05:56

This is quite interesting, $4 is lots better than the $80 on eBay. However for those of us not literate in Chinese, how does one order this stuff?

I went on the Taobao website, and everything is in Hanzi.

[Edited on 3-6-2016 by careysub]

Deathunter88 - 3-6-2016 at 06:08

Quote: Originally posted by careysub  
This is quite interesting, $4 is lots better than the $80 on eBay. However for those of us not literate in Chinese, how does one order this stuff?

I went on the Taobao website, and everything is in Hanzi.

[Edited on 3-6-2016 by careysub]


That's the thing, this product isn't native to China. It might be hard to see but on the bottom right corner of the packet you can see the words "Made in England" so this is actually imported into China. It might be even cheaper if bought outside of China where there would be no import fees. On a side note, there are some browsers that can auto translate Chinese into English and allow you to use Taobao.

careysub - 3-6-2016 at 14:09

Quote: Originally posted by Deathunter88  
Quote: Originally posted by careysub  
This is quite interesting, $4 is lots better than the $80 on eBay. However for those of us not literate in Chinese, how does one order this stuff?

I went on the Taobao website, and everything is in Hanzi.

[Edited on 3-6-2016 by careysub]


That's the thing, this product isn't native to China. It might be hard to see but on the bottom right corner of the packet you can see the words "Made in England" so this is actually imported into China. It might be even cheaper if bought outside of China where there would be no import fees. On a side note, there are some browsers that can auto translate Chinese into English and allow you to use Taobao.


I have a browser translating Chinese now, but I cannot bring this product up on Taobao. What did you search on?

It may be cheap coming from other sources, but like many industrial products it is not available for retail sale in small amounts. All of the source I find are of the "contact us" sort, which means they only want to deal with large accounts. I do find sources on Alibaba and the like with a 50,000 unit, or 500 kg minimum order, etc.

Cryolite - 3-6-2016 at 14:25

I found the link: https://world.taobao.com/item/16472088240.htm

DraconicAcid - 3-6-2016 at 14:27

Why buy it through China? The manufacturer has a website: http://autotype.macdermid.com/where-to-buy

careysub - 3-6-2016 at 14:48

Quote: Originally posted by DraconicAcid  
Why buy it through China? The manufacturer has a website: http://autotype.macdermid.com/where-to-buy


See my post above.

"Where to buy" directs you to companies that do no retail sales. If you want a 10,000 units you may get the time of day from them. Not if you want to buy 100 g for $5.

This is a very common phenomenon for lots of industrial products. Retail channels do not exist. Chinese resellers are often a god-send there.

DraconicAcid - 3-6-2016 at 15:00

Gotcha.

zhiang0113 - 9-6-2016 at 21:30

For chemicals, it's easier to source it from 1688.com (which can be accessed using a Taobao account) as it doesn't have restrictions for chemicals unlike Taobao. It's usually used by people/companies buying materials in bulk (a more industrial Taobao, if you will), but it's also rather easy to find smaller-sized goods. A quick search of sodium periodate (高碘酸钠) gives quite a few reagent-quality results, the cheapest of which is 50 yuan (about USD$4?) for 100 grams. The only catch though, is that you probably need a Chinese credit card to purchase chemicals, if I'm not wrong; at least that's what I had to use when I last bought some stuff over there. Oh, and I'm not sure if they ship chemicals overseas. I tried buying sodium metavanadate (along with other non-chemical stuff) once, but they didn't let me ship it over (not sure if it's because of the electronics I bought, or because of the chemicals). No harm trying though!

[Edited on 10-6-2016 by zhiang0113]