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steve of oxford wrote:
I'll let you know if I blow the door off the oven.
I did just that when I was five years old...took the door clean off a range. Didn't sit down for a week!
Re mercury. My last batch of nitrate is good, the best yet. It instantly went crystalline as it was poured out of the tube into the drying dish, which signifies a very high mercury content.
I intend to separate a small quantity and microwave it. This 'should' produce a very good pyrolysis i.e. decomposition into mercury oxide, but with no introduction of impurities which you can't avoid when using a flame.
Another interesting discovery today; although I have source of potassium hydroxide (the electrolyte) I also found a source of potassium carbonate, which if heated strongly, gives off carbon dioxide gas, producing potassium oxide. Reacting the oxide with water produces potassium hydroxide.
This is handy because the source for the carbonate is the same as for the zinc oxide, so I can virtually get everything from one place, and though they don't sell potassium hydroxide, it should be no real bother to get the Co2 out of the carbonate and then hydrate the oxide left.
This is all starting to come together beautifully, but everything hinges on the quality of the HgO, though I'm pretty sure I got good mercury oxide. I could test it by heating and condensing the vapour....which should condense as metal mercury, however I ran out of mercury now and am reluctant to expend any of the oxide I have made. Prefer to go straight to test cell stage with what I have got.
On a slightly different approach I do have a source of genuine vermilion, which is mercury ore, i.e. pure mercury sulphide. I am wondering if you could use mercury sulphide directly if you used a sulphur based electrolyte, thus turning mercury metal into nitrate, then into oxide could be avoided altogether. But for now I think I'll progress with an HgO test cell. Maybe try HgS later on.
Unfortunately for now I have work and expenditure on the car so I'll have to diversify my time somewhat.
Last edited on Mon Jun 4th, 2012 16:32 by steve of oxford