MeshPL
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Chlorate decomposition (?)
Hello everybody!
I just finished a fresh batch of sodium chlorate. I concentrated electrolyte, meanwhile adding some bicarbonate to keep pH high enough, added
concentrated NaCl and filtered. Than I washed it with cold water and started to boil away water. I thought it was safe, after all sodium chlorate
should be stable, while damp and not mixed with reducers. It was not pure though due to graphite from erroded electrodes and chromates. I assume
that's all impurities, but the electrolyte was green (and definitely not due to chromium (III) or copper (II) chloride-it didn't form any residue with
hydroxide) in fact it was likely due to colloidal graphite + chromates. The chlorate was also greenish-grayish but I just wanted to make chlorate,
that's all.
The chlorate formed a strange crust, gray on top, green on the bottom. It sticks to the container very hard. The little bit I was able to extract is
water soluble but also highly basic.
During boiling it formed a little volcanoe due to whatever. It was orange due to chomate (?). Simply a tiny cone of orange chlorate poped out with a
lot off fizzing. It was maybe 1cm high but ot scared me a lot.
Did I just ruined a batch of chlorate?
I know I should dry it different way (and even could have died due to explosion) but I am going on holiday tomorrow and will be back after 3 weeks and
just wanted to extract chlorate as soon as possible.
[Edited on 26-7-2015 by MeshPL]
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Deathunter88
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Did you boil it to dryness? If you did the it most likely decomposed. Sodium chlorate decomposes at 350 degrees C.
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MeshPL
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Some of it was dry, especially at the top, yet the bottom was still quite damp. But it soldified later. At most it was a "molten sodium chlorate
hydrate". It soldifies due to high diffrences in solubility of chlorate. Also I was using mobile electric stove (old one, with iron hotplates) not
sure if it cane reach 350C due to built in thermostat. Also chlorate melts at 260C and my definitely did not. (Tested it with bits of dry grass which
should have ignited in contact with molten chlorate. They were easier to remove than sugar)
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Bot0nist
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Mood: Streching my cotyledons.
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Is metathesis then crystallizing and drying your potassium cholrate an option. It's much easier to dry and store, being less hydroscopic.
[Edited on 26-7-2015 by Bot0nist]
U.T.F.S.E. and learn the joys of autodidacticism!
Don't judge each day only by the harvest you reap, but also by the seeds you sow.
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