So I made some glycerol ftom cooking oil (followed Nile Red's video on Youtube) however I somehow messed up the activated charcoal step. I used a lot
and the glycerol-,methanol solution looked clear. I started boiling it down but at some point the solution became brown (sunflower oil pigments) and
started smoking. Now I'm pretty much left with thick glycerol (almost no methanol) with a dark brown, almost black colour. Filtering doesn't work.
Activated charcoal too. Suggestions?
[Edited on 22-10-2018 by sumatra]Jackson - 22-10-2018 at 07:40
Maybe you could try washing it with some organic solvent that is immiscible?sumatra - 22-10-2018 at 07:50
Maybe you could try washing it with some organic solvent that is immiscible?
I was actually thinking about chloroform, but I'm not sure and I wouldn't want to waste it. BaFuxa - 22-10-2018 at 09:22
Looks like you have some oxidized fatty acids in your glycerol. Unsaturated fatty acids oxidize easily.
[Edited on 22-10-2018 by BaFuxa]
[Edited on 22-10-2018 by BaFuxa]sumatra - 23-10-2018 at 08:27
Update:
I added chloroform to the glycerol and as expected it sank to the bottom, however it did not clean the glycerol at all, I added some water to reduce
the solubility of whatever the colour is coming from, but it didn't seem to work either. Sadly I do not have a vacuum pump to perform a vacuum
distilation and I'm not planning on buying one soon. Next thing I'll try is adding a lot of water followed by a lot of activated charcoal.
Any other suggestions?Jackson - 23-10-2018 at 10:59
Maybe add a lot of chloroform and let it sit for awhile?
