Creation of nitrates from non-nitrates

Nitrates from Ammonia

And you tasted the what?! Why the hell would you taste ANYTHING you make?

In my view, the simplest way to come by an adequate quantity of nitrates is to obtain some fertilizers. Most of them contain lots of nitrates that are readily soluble in water and consequently are easily separated and purified. Fertilizers aren't expensive either, so I see no reason why would anyone want to synthesize them from other compounds, except for pure fun. If this is the case, then yield should be of no concern. Here is a procedure from a school texbook on inorganic chemistry, outlining a simple procedure to obtain some nitric acid by oxidation of ammonia.

Burning ammonia directly is not a very good option: it requires pure O2 (since it won't burn in air) and it generates only nitrogen (as explained in the excerpt I provided). Obtaining HNO3 requires a catalyst, which is a metal oxide, and the yield depends on the catalyst used. The optimum conditions are used in industry, where the well known platinum-rhodium catalysts act under elevated pressure, but catalytic action does take place under normal conditions, albeit with very reduced efficiency. As outlined in the excerpt, other metal oxides can be used, such as those of iron and chromium. I'd like to add here that a "mad scientist" ought to obtain some platinum, for it is very useful (I believe I don't have to explain its many uses). Yes, it is expensive, but You don't need much of it, and some can be obtained in fuel cell kits and other places (do some search on the Net).

Of course, nitrogen can be reacted directly with oxygen, but only at extremely high temperatures -- typically, the electric arc process develops over 4000 deg. Celsius. Doing this in an improvised lab is possible, but with extremely small yields. So, if this is done only for demo purposes, then a neon-sign transformer can be used with *extreme caution* (this thing can kill You instantly) to develop a continuous arc in, say, an Erlenmeyer flask with some water in the bottom. If the arc is made to rotate to exchange the air, and occasionally the device is turned off and the capped flask vigorously shaken to dissolve nitrogen oxide in water, after some time the pH drops so the minute amounts of acid can be detected with a suitable indicator. Otherwise, I believe trying to produce some quantitative yield of nitric acid in this way in an improvised lab is a complete waste of time. Perhaps even nitrogen-fixing bacteria can produce more

Ah, yes. Where to obtain ammonia? Inexpensive urea-based fertilizers can be heated to release lots of NH3. There should be some fertilizers on the market that are pure urea pellets. Upon heating in a flask with a stopper, it melts and starts giving off NH3. Of course, NH3 can be pushed out chemically, but why waste chemicals?

Attachment: NOx.pdf (527kB)
This file has been downloaded 1052 times

thanks

Yes, the industrial method involves ammonia, catalysts, high pressure etc. Definitely not worth it, and probably not even possible, at home. If I need a nitrate I just go to the local DIY (hardware, for any Americans) store and get some good old J Arthur Bowers Nitrate of Soda! Dirt cheap and pure ('ish).

Current

Breakthrough