I was curious if I were to use a mgso4 solution (water) and 1 magneseum strip electrode as an anode and a carbon rod as a cathode would this create
sulfuric acid once a electric current is added?barley81 - 22-12-2011 at 18:31
No, you'd be making magnesium hydroxide and hydrogen gas. Even if you switched the polarity, you'd just be making hydrogen and oxygen gases.Chemistry Alchemist - 22-12-2011 at 18:38
Electrolysis of salts to make acids, you would need to it be a non reactive element... When doing hydrolysis of magnesium sulfate, you are making
magnesium and sulfuric acid... But because magnesium is slightly reactive in water and will react to make magnesium hydroxide and hydrogen... This is
why magnesium sulfate won't work, but when you electrolysis copper sulfate, the copper formed, won't react with the water and will start to fall out
of solution while the sulfate ions will be converted into sulfuric acid... I've tried both, and the only one that makes sulfuric acid is copper
sulfate... There maybe others our there that also make it but copper sulfate is easily available so it's our best betBot0nist - 23-12-2011 at 05:03
Reported spammer. All posts by this user.Adas - 23-12-2011 at 05:36
I'd rather try sodium pyrosulfate method - get some NaHSO4, decompose it at 350°C to Na2S2O7, heat the Na2S2O7 above 460°C and you have SO3 which
you can condense, put into water or whatever.bbartlog - 23-12-2011 at 07:41
With a divided cell you can do this. Sort of. I had very marginal results using MgSO4 solution and a terra cotta pot as a divider (ended up with 10ml
of dirty sulfuric acid after several hours of work). hissingnoise - 23-12-2011 at 09:05
Quote:
heat the Na2S2O7 above 460°C and you have SO3 which you can condense, put into water or whatever.
Water does not directly absorb SO<sub>3</sub> - leading the vapour to water produces a very corrosive, practically incondensible acid
mist.
In practice SO<sub>3</sub> is absorbed in conc. H<sub>2</sub>SO<sub>4</sub> to form oleum which is then
reacted with the requisite quantity of water to make acid of the desired strength!
Adas - 23-12-2011 at 09:37
How do you know that?
And in that case, how do they make the first H2SO4?Bot0nist - 23-12-2011 at 09:45
Adding condensed SO3 to water would be very scary.
[Edited on 23-12-2011 by Bot0nist]
I read too, but what else can make SO3 + water? And I know the reaction is very fast and dangerous, of course!hissingnoise - 23-12-2011 at 09:56
Quote:
And in that case, how do they make the first H2SO4?
In antiquity, H<sub>2</sub>SO<sub>4</sub> was made by heating FeSO<sub>4</sub> and condensing the issuing vapours!
This was superseded by the 'lead-chamber' process, followed by the modern 'contact-process' . . .
Bot0nist - 23-12-2011 at 09:56
Did you read the link. Look up the historical process used to first make sulfuric acid. Like the lead chamber process.
hiss beat me to it.
[Edited on 23-12-2011 by Bot0nist]White Yeti - 24-12-2011 at 07:37
Mg+2 is quite difficult to reduce, it is industrially produced by electrolysing a molten magnesium salt (usually MgCl2). So, if you were to even
attempt to obtain sulphuric acid from MgSO4, you'd have to melt some epsom salts, and pass hundreds of amps through the molten mix. Even then, all
you'd get at the anode would be SO2 and O2 gas.
Welcome to the forum!neptunium - 29-12-2011 at 08:44
there is a forum on SO3 from NaHSO4 but requires heat above 700 C and quartz glass ....quite interesting if i may say.
Also i have this old book of chemistry from 1887,they propose to make sulfuric acid from burning sulphur in XS O2 and pass it over heated metal
chunks the gas go directly bubble into a cooled water flask...just like thathissingnoise - 29-12-2011 at 09:01
Quote:
Also i have this old book of chemistry from 1887,they propose to make sulfuric acid from burning sulphur in XS O2 and pass it over heated metal
chunks the gas go directly bubble into a cooled water flask...just like that.
I would suggest you read all the posts in the thread?
neptunium - 29-12-2011 at 09:05
didnt you and Adas mentionned the manufacture of H2SO4?
my apologies,Formatik - 29-12-2011 at 09:41
H2SO4 from MgSO4 has been done by me and bbartlog through diiferent routes, chemical and electrolytical. It seems either way it is either ineffecient
and/or the sulfuric acid obtained with difficulty. Search the forum to find these.DerAlte - 29-12-2011 at 11:28
