Alchemistical - 9-2-2007 at 20:40
Does anyone here know if it is possible to create hydrogen peroxide by simply distilling water out of a pure antimony or palladium ion solution and
then repeating with the same water?
It's a rumor that's been going around, and so far I've found nothing about it on search engines and encyclopedias. I'm pretty sure it's a false rumor,
but I'd like some chemical explanations to back explain why it won't work.
woelen - 10-2-2007 at 02:57
Where would the H2O2 come from? It is a false rumor. You just distill off the water, that's all. For some strongly oxidizing Pd-salts (Pd in +4
oxidation state), you might get oxygen as well, but no peroxide.
[Edited on 10-2-07 by woelen]
JohnWW - 10-2-2007 at 14:06
No, there is no way that could work. It can be made only by some mechanism that produces OH radicals, which combine to form H2O2. The most widely used
method now is the autoxidation process, involving oxidation of anthraquinol to anthraquinol, which then gives off H2O2 on further oxidation, see http://www.cheresources.com/h2o2.shtml . There is a new method involving direct synthesis from H2 and O2 over Al2O3, see http://pubs.acs.org/cgi-bin/abstract.cgi/cmatex/2006/18/i11/... and http://www.freepatentsonline.com/4347231.html . An older method is by electrolysis of NaOH or KOH solution at a high voltage, which results on OH-
being discharged to OH radicals at the anode, and these then combine to H2O2. Other methods involve the formation and decomposition of organic
peroxides. A good PDF on its production is http://www.nzic.org.nz/ChemProcesses/production/1E.pdf .
[Edited on 10-2-2007 by JohnWW]